The 


Society  of  the  Cincinnati 


IN 


N  KW   YORK:. 


PRINTED    FOR    PRIVATE    DISTRIBUTION. 


188  6. 


I  I 


Formed  by  the  Officers  of  the  American  Army  of  the  Revolution, 


1783, 


With  Extracts,  from  the  Proceedings  of  its  General  Meetings  and  from  the  Transactions 


NEW  YORK  STATE  SOCIETY. 


JOHN     SCHTJYIvBR, 

Secretary. 


PRINTED     FOR     THE     SOCIETY     BY     DOUGLAS     TAYLOR. 


NEW     YORK, 
1886. 


CONTENTS. 


Preface ix 

Historical  Sketch  of  the  Society, }  3 

the  Institution  and >•  13 

Extracts  from  the  General  Meetings,  by  the  President  General. .  .  )  31 

Appendix,  Letters  of  General  Heath  and  Colonel  Du  Bouchet 72 

Officers  of  the  General  Society  since  1784 74 

Officers  of  the  New  York  State  Society  since  1783 77 

Roll  of  Members  of  the  New  York  State  Society  in  1784 .•  •  •  •  79 

Roll  of  Members  of  the  New  York  State  Society  in  1788 83 

Honorary  Members  of  the  New  York  State  Society 85 

Extracts  from  the  Transactions  of  the  New  York  State  Society 87 

Biographies  of  the  Original  Members  of  the  New  York  State  Society.  .  149 
Descendants  admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society  whose  ancestor 

belonged  to  other  State  Societies 355 

Life  Members  of  the  New  York  State  Society 359 

Present  Officers  of  the  New  York  State  Society 361 

Present  Members  of  the  New  York  State  Society 362 

The  Institution  Signed  by  Washington  and  others 364 

List  of  French  Officers 367 


INDEX 

Of  the  eldest  male  descendants  through  the  maternal  line. 


PAGE 

John  Tyler  Cooper 201 

Thomas  De  Witt  Cuyler 337 

Anthony  Walton  White  Evans 346 

David  Van  Home  Floyd 325 

Griffith  Pritchard  Griffith 343 

Wickham  Hoffman 1 68 

William  Swetland  Ketchum , 310 

John  McDougall  Laurence 260 

Morgan  Lewis  Livingston 249 

John  Isaac  Plume 329 

Paul  Ernest  Tiemann 248 

John  Van  Vorst 319 

John  Beekman  Westbrook 159 


LIST   OF    PLATES. 


Washington — Frontispiece 

Knox 12 

De  Grasse 19 

Huntington 21 

Verplanck  House   25 

C.  C.  Pinckney 47 

Thomas  Pinckney 74 

Van  Rensselaer . . 


.  Fairlie 

Nicholas  Fish. 

Gansevoort.  .  .  . 

Hamilton 

Hammond  .... 

Morgan  Lewis. 
•  Arnold  . 


PAGE. 

•  T99 

.  202 

.  2IO 

.  224 

.  226 

.  248 


ERRATA. 


48, 


Male  instead  of 


LIST   OF    PLATES. 


Washington — Frontispiece 

Knox 12 

De  Grasse 19 

Huntington 21 

Verplanck  House    25 

C.  C.  Pinckney 47 

Thomas  Pinckney 74 

Van  Rensselaer 85 

•  Livingston    9° 

The  Badge 92 

•  Gates 96 

•  Montgomery 105 

•  LaFayette 112 

•  Ogden us 

Hamilton  Fish 127 

•Chrystie i?i 

-Clarkson i73 

•Wayne 17S 

•  George  Clinton 1 7  7 

James  Clinton T  79 

•  Cochran l8° 

•Crosby l88 


Fairlie 199 

Nicholas  Fish 202 

Gansevoort 210 

Hamilton 224 

Hammond 226 

Morgan  Lewis 248 

Arnold 252 

McDougall 258 

Popham 274 

Schuyler 281 

St.  Clair '.    285 

Stark 287 

Steuben 297 

Trumbull 3J5 

Van  Cortlandt 3*9 

Varick 332 

•  Sullivan 335 

•  Anthony  W.  White 344 

•  Kosciuszko 346 

Willett 348 

•  Tallmadge 357 

•  Rochambeau 367 


PREFACE. 


Since  the  organization  of  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati, 
resolutions  appear  upon  the  minutes,  authorizing  the  publication  of  their  trans 
actions,  on  the  9th  of  February,  1784;  4th  of  July,  1810;  4th  of  July,  1828;  4th 
of  July,  1846,  and  on  the  22d  of  May,  1873,  when,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Crosby, 
the  following  was  adopted: 

Resolved,  That  the  Institution  of  the  Society,  together  with  the  abstracts  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  General  Society  and  the  New  York  State  Society  down  to  the  present  time,  also  a  full  list 
of  the  members  of  this  Society,  together  with  the  revised  By-laws,  be  printed  to  the  number  of 
five  hundred  copies,  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary. 

The  Secretary  at  that  time,  Marinus  Willett,  reported  that  the  full  list  of 
members  accredited  to  New  York  could  not  be  correctly  ascertained  from  the 
fact  that  the  original  roll  was  lost.  The  Society  then  appointed  Mr.  Schuyler, 
Mr.  Tapp  and  the  Secretary  a  Committee  to  ascertain  and  verify  the  names  of 
the  original  members  of  the  New  York  State  Society,  and  they,  after  corre 
sponding  with  the  descendants  of  several  of  the  former  Secretaries,  succeeded 
in  finding  the  original  Roll  in  a  trunk  of  old  papers  belonging  to  Dr.  Marcellin, 
the  former  Secretary,  and  which  had  been,  since  his  decease,  in  the  possession 
of  a  daughter  of  his,  living  in  Illinois.  At  the  Annual  Meeting  in  1877  this 
Committee  made  a  full  report  and  replaced  the  original  Roll  among  the 
Archives  of  the  Society.  Mr.  Hamilton,  General  Cochrane  and  Mr.  Schuyler 
were  thereupon  appointed  a  Committee  to  have  the  same  reproduced,  and  the 
following  was  adopted  at  the  same  time: 

"  That  for  the  purpose  of  availing  ourselves  of  the  labor  of  these  Committees,  by  publishing 
the  results  of  their  work  for  the  use  of  the  members  of  the  Society,  these  Committees  be  consoli 
dated,  and  that  the  members  of  the  Joint  Committee  be  John  Schuyler,  Marinus  Willett,  Edward 
W.  Tapp,  Alexander  Hamilton  and  John  Cochrane,  together  with  the  President,  who  shall  under 
take  and  perform  the  duties  aforesaid  and  also  the  republication  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Society 
at  present  published  in  book  form." 

On  the  following  7th  of  March  the  Joint  Committee  met  and  resolved 
itself  into  a  Sub-Committee,  consisting  of  Mr.  Schuyler  and  the  President,  to 
carry  out  the  instructions  of  the  resolution,  and 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1879,  the  Secretary,  Mr.  Willett,  resigned,  and  at  his 
request  Mr.  Schuyler  was  elected  in  his  place. 

At  the  next  Annual  Meeting  the  Bylaws,  which  had  been  revised  and 
recommended  by  the  Standing  Committee,  were  adopted  and  ordered  to  be 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  THE  CINCINNATI. 


The  first  suggestion  of  the  organization  into  a  society  of  the  officers  of  the 
American  Army  of  the  Revolution  appears  in  a  paper,  in  the  handwriting  of 
General  Knox,  entitled  "  Rough  draft  of  a  Society  to  be  formed  by  the  American 
officers,  and  to  be  called  the 'Cincinnati.'"  It  is  dated  " Westpoint,  15  April, 

1783-" 

This  paper,  circulated  among  the  officers  of  the  army,  then  lying  on  the  banks 
of  the  Hudson,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Newburgh  (in  the  State  of  New  York),  is 
understood  to  be  referred  to  in  the  preamble  to  the  institution  of  the  "  Society  of 
the  Cincinnati"  as  the  "proposals"  which  had  "been  communicated  to  the 
several  regiments  of  the  respective  lines."  It  is  printed  herein  in  parallel  columns, 
with  the  "Institution,"  as  reported  by  the  committee  to  which  the  "proposals  " 
were  referred,  and  as  adopted  May  13,  1783. 

The  original  paper  of  General  Knox,  and  the  "  Institution  "  as  adopted,  both 
aimed  at  some  bond  which  would  still  unite  those  who  for  long  years  had  shared 
the  hardships  of  the  camp  and  the  dangers  of  many  a  battlefield,  now  about  to 
separate,  many  of  them  penniless,  to  find  homes  ruined,  and  families  dis 
persed  or  dead:  they  sought  some  tie  that  should  bring  them  together  at  inter 
vals,  in  social  reunions — above  all  they  sought  the  means  of  providing  for  the 
necessities  of  the  more  unfortunate  of  their  number,  and  for  the  support  of  the 
indigent  widows  and  children  of  deceased  associates.  They  wished  that  their 
children  should  inherit  and  maintain  the  friendship  which  bound  them  together. 
And  conscious  of  their  disinterestedness  and  proud  of  their  claim  to  public 
gratitude  and  consideration,  they  followed  in  the  line  of  that  desire  for  recog 
nition  which  is  the  life  of  the  soldier's  ambition,  and  adopted  a  "  badge  "  or 
"  order"  to  be  worn  by  the  members,  and  which,  in  but  too  many  instances,  was 
all  that  they  might  transmit  as  a  visible,  actual  inheritance  to  their  children. 

But  this  was  too  much  for  the  civilian  politicians,  who  had  secured  a  country 
and  a  field  for  political  ambition,  without  any  of  the  dangers  or  privations  of  the 
camp. 

For  eight  years  the  army  had  stood  between  them  and  the  enemy.  The 
enemy  gone — what  need  of  the  army?  It  may  become  dangerous;  it  is  poor; 
the  soldiers  may  become  the  objects  of  popular  favor,  and  may  interfere  with 
our  tenure  of  office — we  will  withhold  pay,  dismiss  and  disperse  them.  And  so 
they  did.  And  then  came  forth  the  outcry  against  the  innocent  purpose  of  these 
poor,  unpaid,  homeless  and  penniless  soldiers  of  an  occasional  reunion,  and  of 
the  opportunity  of  contributing  to  each  other's  wants  and  necessities. 

Ancient  classical  history  was  overhauled  for  pseudonyms  under  which  those 
who  had  been  protected  from  danger  from  the  enemy  might  assail  the  objects 


4  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

of  the  men  who  had  risked  their  lives  to  secure  the  independence  of  their 
country. 

Jealousy  imagines  dangers  and  magnifies  objects  of  its  own  creation.  And 
those  who  had  no  words  of  censure,  but  all  of  praise  and  of  encouragement  for 
the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  army,  so  long  as  they  stood  between  themselves 
and  a  powerful  enemy,  not  only  forgot  their  promises,  but  became  profuse  in 
censure  and  in  denunciation  so  soon  as  peace  was  insured  and  the  British  forces 
were  withdrawn. 

It  may  be  not  altogether  unnatural  that  those  who  had  been  engaged  in  the 
civil  departments  of  the  Government  should  have  looked  with  something  of  an 
honest  apprehension  upon  a  combination  of  military  men,  which  might  in  time 
pass  into  a  standing  military  organization.  The  trials  through  which  the  country 
had  lately  passed  had  strongly  impressed  upon  the  public  mind  the  dangers  and 
the  oppression  of  such  organizations ;  while  the  maintenance  of  "  standing 
armies  in  times  of  peace  "  had  been  among  the  griefs  "  submitted  to  a  candid 
world"  in  justification  of  the  act  which  declared  the  States  independent. 

But  the  opposition  to  the  Society  was  not  wholly  based  upon  patriotic  vigil 
ance.  There  were  those  who  feared  that  this  new  association  might  appropriate 
to  itself  too  much  of  the  glory  of  the  late  achievement  of  independence.  And 
there  were  probably  some  who  feared  that  its  members  might  receive  more  of 
the  evidences  of  popular  favor  and  gratitude  than  was  entirely  consistent  with 
their  own  views  or  wishes  of  advancement;  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  there 
was  not  wanting,  even  in  that  day,  the  class  of  "politicians,"  who  infest  all  ages — 
courtiers  and  sycophants  in  despotic  governments,  demagogues  and  alarmists  in 
those  of  popular  tendencies. 

Thus  the  outcry  became  widespread  and  violent. 

To  ^Edanus  Burke,  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  South  Carolina,  is 
believed  to  be  due  the  credit  of  first  exposing  the  profligacy  and  dangerous  ten 
dencies  of  a  Society  which  now,  after  an  existence  of  a  hundred  years,  in  the 
steady  and  direct  pursuit  of  each  and  all  of  its  declared  objects,  resting  upon 
its  original  institution  and  foundation,  having  abated  no  one  of  the  principles 
which  were  put  forth  as  its  basis — having  outlived  the  clamor  which  attended  its 
birth — enjoys  an  extent  of  favor,  of  sympathy  and  of  confidence,  the  result  to 
some  extent  of  its  unobtrusive  weakness,  but  more  the  result  of  those  pious 
charities,  of  that  cultivation  of  mutual  friendships,  of  that  loyal  devotion  to  the 
"  rights  and  liberties  of  human  nature,"  and  of  that  "  determination  to  promote 
and  cherish,  between  the  respective  States,  union  and  national  honor,"  which  its 
founders  proclaimed,  and  which  its  history  shows  to  have  been  its  objects  and 
its  aims. 

In  October,  1783,  Judge  Burke  issued  a  pamphlet,*  under  the  signature  of 
"  Cassius,"  proving,  at  least  to  his  own  satisfaction,  that  "  the  Institution  created 
"  a  race  of  Hereditary  Patricians  or  Nobility  " — "  an  hereditary  Peerage  "  that 
would  soon  "  occasion  such  an  inequality  in  the  condition  of  our  inhabitants 
"  that  the  country  will  be  composed  of  only  two  ranks  of  men — the  patricians  or 
"  nobles,  and  the  rabble."  By  equally  conclusive  proof,  he  showed  the  object 

*  "  Considerations  on  the  Society  or  Order  of  Cincinnati,  lately  instituted  by  the  Major-Generals,  Brigadier- 
Generals,  and  other  officers  of  the  American  Army;  proving  that  it  creates  a  race  of  Hereditary  Patricians  or 
Nobility,"  Philadelphia,  Robert  Bell,  1783. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  5 

of  the  promoters  of  the  Society  to  be  the  overthrow  of  the  Republic  and  the 
usurpation  of  supreme  power.  "  They  have  laid  in  ruins,"  said  he,  "that  state 
"  of  civil  equality  which  our  laws  and  the  nature  of  a  Republican  government 
•'  promised  us."  That  "  the  Cincinnati  would  soon  have  and  hold  an  exclusive 
"  right  to  offices,  honors  and  authorities,  civil  and  military."  The  evils  were 
deep-rooted  and  past  remedy,  for  the  parties  to  the  great  iniquity  were  powerful, 
designing  and  numerous.  "  The  number  of  Peers,"  said  he,  "  is  not  far  short 
"  of  ten  thousand,*  and  every  generation  will  be  adding  to  their  numbers." 

Judge  Burke,  although  the  first,  was  not  alone  in  the  assault.  Pamphlets 
were  the  channel  through  which  overpowering  patriotism  found  its  way  to  the 
public  eye,  and  several  made  their  appearance.  But  the  expressions  of  hostility 
were  not  confined  to  pamphlets,  and  mightier  men  than  Judge  Burke  entered 
the  lists. 

Mr.  Jefferson  saw  in  the  Society  opposition  to  the  "  letter  of  some  of  our 
Constitutions  and  to  the  spirit  of  all  of  them  " — opposition  to  "  the  natural 
equality  of  man."  He  considered  it  "  the  germ  whose  development  is  one 
"  day  to  destroy  the  fabric  we  have  reared,"  and  that  "  the  day  will  certainly 
"  come  when  a  single  fibre  left  of  this  Institution  will  produce  an  aristocracy 
"  which  will  change  the  form  of  our  governments  from  the  best  to  the  worst  in 
"  the  world."  And  while,  in  writing  to  Washington,  he  does  not  avow  it  as  a 
principle  of  action  with  himself,  still  his  suggestion  that  "  in  competitions  for 
office,  on  equal  or  nearly  equal  ground,  Congress  may  give  silent  preferences  to 
those  who  are  not  of  the  fraternity,"  is  significant  of  the  extent  of  his  own  hos 
tility,  and  possibly  foreshadows  some  subsequent  acts.  Many  years  later  he 
claimed  that  the  expression  used  by  himself  in  a  famous  letter,  of  "  the  Samsons 
"  in  the  field  and  Solomons  in  Council,  but  who  had  had  their  heads  shorn  by  the 
"  harlot  England,"  was  "  meant  for  the  Cincinnati  generally."  He  declares  him 
self  to  have  been  "  an  enemy  to  the  Institution  from  the  first  moment  of  its  con- 
"  ception,"  considered  "  their  meetings  objectionable,"  and  "  the  charitable  part  of 
"  the  Institution  still  more  likely  to  do  mischief,"  and  advised  them  to  "  distri- 
"  bute  their  funds,  renounce  their  existence,"  and  "  melt  up  their  eagles." 

To  Samuel  Adams'  watchful  and  suspicious  mind,  the  association  presented 
"  an  odious  hereditary  distinction  of  families,  "  a  plan  disgustful  to  the 
"  American  feeling."  And  because  "  one  of  the  Order  had  received  a  majority 
"  of  the  votes"  in  the  town  of  Boston  for  an  elective  office,  the  old  Patriot  was 
"  afraid  the  citizens  were  not  so  vigilant  as  they  used  and  still  ought  to  be." 

John  Adams  considered  it  "  the  deepest  piece  of  cunning  yet  attempted  ;  it 
"  is  sowing  the  seeds  of  all  that  European  Courts  wish  to  grow  up  among  us,  viz., 
"  of  vanity,  ambition,  corruption,  discord  and  sedition."  At  a  later  period  in 
life,  and  in  reply  to  a  complimentary  address  from  the  Society  in  South  Carolina, 
he  spoke  of  them  as  "  enjoying  the  sweetest  of  rewards  in  the  grateful  affection 
of  their  fellow-citizens,"  and  forgetful  of  the  Pandora's  box  which  he  had 
thought  the  Society  would  inevitably  prove,  he  closed  by  saying,  "  When  the 
"  Cincinnati  of  South  Carolina  pledge  their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred 
"  honors,  I  believe  no  man  will  doubt  their  integrity." 

*  The  original  number  of  the  Cincinnati  was  less  than  one-fourth  of  the  number  which  Judge  Burke's 
imaginative  mind  feared.  Each  generation  has  lessened  their  number,  At  present  they  do  not  exceed  four 
hundred. 


6  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Dr.  Franklin  ridiculed  them  as  "  Chevaliers  of  Cincinnati^,"  and  condemned 
them  as  "forming  an  order  of  Hereditary  Knights";  but  subsequently  accepted 
an  honorary  membership  of  the  Society. 

John  Jay  thought  that  the1"  Order  will  eventually  divide  us  into  two  mighty 
factions."  With  characteristic  honesty  and  consistency,  in  a  reply  (perhaps  also 
of  characteristic  quaintness  of  sarcasm)  to  a  suggestion  to  become  an  honorary 
member  of  the  Society,  he  said  that  "  he  was  neither  young  enough  nor  old 
enough  to  desire  that  honor." 

The  denunciation  was  not  confined  to  individuals.  Governors  of  several  of 
the  States  presented  the  Society  to  the  consideration  and  censure  of  the  Legis 
latures;  some  of  whom  directed  inquiries,  and  others  passed  hostile  resolutions. 
The  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  resolved  that  "  the  Society  was  unjusti- 
"  fiable,  and,  if  not  properly  discountenanced,  might  be  dangerous  to  the  peace, 
"  liberty  and  safety  of  the  United  States  in  general,  and  this  State  in  particular." 

With  the  history  of  the  Society  for  a  century  of  quiet,  steady,  pursuit  of  its 
objects  before  us,  its  extinct  branches,  and  its  diminished  numbers,  it  is  difficult 
to  comprehend  the  existence,  or  the  extent  of  the  prejudice  which  was  aroused 
and  had  become  contagious. 

Washington's  name  stood,  subscribed  by  his  own  hand,  the  first  on  the  roll 
of  the  society.  He  had  been  requested,  and  had  consented  to  officiate  as  Pre 
sident.  He  had  been  cognizant  of  the  motives  and  of  the  proceedings  which  led 
to  the  formation  of  the  association.  He  knew  the  innocence  and  purity  of 
those  motives,  and  he  apprehended  no  results  less  innocent  or  less  pure.  He 
knew  the  honesty,  the  sincerity,  the  devoted  patriotism  of  the  men  who  had 
formed  the  Society,  and  had  no  fears  that  the  Republic  would  receive  harm  at 
their  hands.  The  uneasiness  which  had  been  excited  in  the  public  mind  had 
not,  however,  failed  to  attract  his  attention.  He  was  not  only  a  member  of  the 
society,  but,  although  divested  of  all  official  position,  he  was  not  a  mere  private 
citizen. 

He  felt,  perhaps  over-sensitively,  the  violence  of  the  popular  clamor,  and 
was  willing  to  make  concessions  to  the  prevailing  excitement,  which  in  the  light 
of  history,  it  must  be  admitted  were  conceived  in  an  overestimate  of  the  reality 
and  of  the  honesty  of  the  hostility  to  the  Society.  "  However  ill-founded,"  says 
Marshall,  "the  public  prejudices  might  be,  he  (Washington)  thought  this  a  case 
"  in  which  they  ought  to  be  respected,  and  if  it  should  be  found  impracticable 
"  to  convince  the  people  that  their  fears  were  misplaced,  he  was  disposed  '  to 
"  yield  to  them  in  a  degree,  and  not  suffer  that  which  was  intended  for  the  best 
"  of  purposes,  to  produce  a  bad  one.'  ' 

Previous  to  the  assembling  of  the  General  Meeting  in  May,  1784,  he  prepared 
a  paper  suggesting  alterations  to  the  Institution,  which  was  presented  to  the 
General  Meeting.  Most  of  his  suggestions  were  embodied  in  a  proposed 
Amended  Institution  which  that  meeting  recommended  for  adoption  by  the 
State  Societies.  > 

The  State  Societies,  however,  regarding  the  prevailing  excitement,  as  a  pass 
ing  storm,  withheld  their  approval  and  ratification  of  the  proposed  amendments; 
and  time  has  shown  how  purely  imaginary  and  groundless  and  ephemeral  were 
the  apprehensions  and  the  prejudice  of  the  day,  and  how  unnecessary  was  the 
sacrifice  which  the  proposed  amendments  would  have  made. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  7 

A  meeting  of  the  General  Society  was  to  be  held  in  May,  1787.  In  October, 
1786,  Washington  addressed  a  circular  letter  to  the  several  State  Societies,  in 
which  he  says: 

"  As  it  will  not  be  in  my  power  (for  reasons  which  I  shall  have  the  honor  of  immediately 
' '  communicating)  to  attend  the  next  General  Meeting  ;  and  as  it  may  become  more  and  more 
"  inconvenient  for  me  to  be  absent  from  my  farms,  or  to  receive  appointments  which  will  divert 
' '  me  from  my  private  affairs  ;  1  think  it  proper  also  to  acquaint  you,  for  the  information  of 
"  your  Delegates  to  the  General  Meeting,  that  it  is  my  desire  not  to  be  reflected  to  the  Presidency, 
"  since  I  should  find  myself  under  the  necessity  of  declining  the  acceptance  of  it.  *  *  *  * 

"  The  variety  and  perplexity  of  my  own  private  concerns,  which,  having  been  much  deranged 
"  by  my  absence  through  the  war,  demand  my  entire  and  unremitting  attention  ;  *  *  *  * 
"  the  natural  desire  of  tranquility,  and  relaxation  from  business,  which  almost  everyone  experi- 
' '  ences  at  my  time  of  life,  particularly  after  having  acted  (during  a  considerable  period)  as  no  idle 
"  spectator  in  uncommonly  busy  and  important  scenes  ;  and  the  present  imbecility  of  my  health, 
"  occasioned  by  a  violent  attack  of  the  fever  and  ague,  succeeded  by  rheumatick  pains  (to  which 
"  till  of  late  I  have  been  an  entire  stranger),  will,  I  doubt  not,  be  considered  as  reasons  of 
"  sufficient  validity  to  justify  my  conduct  in  the  present  instance. 

"  Although  the  whole  of  these  reasons  could  not  have  before  operated  ;  yet  in  conformity  to 
"  my  determination  of  passing  the  remainder  of  my  days  in  a  state  of  retirement,  I  should 
"  certainly  have  refused  to  accept  the  office  of  President  with  which  I  was  honored  in  1784,  but 
' '  from  an  apprehension  that  my  refusal,  at  that  time,  might  have  been  misrepresented  as  a  kind  of 
"  dereliction  of  the  Society  on  my  part,  or  imputed  to  a  disapprobation  of  the  principles  on  which 
"  it  was  then  established.  To  convince  the  opposers  of  the  Institution,  should  any  such 
"  remain,  that  this  was  not  the  fact ;  and  to  give  no  colourable  pretext  for  unreasonable  attacks,  I 
"  prevailed  upon  myself  to  accept  the  appointment  with  a  view  of  holding  it  only  until  the  next 
"  election  ;  before  which  time  I  expected  the  jealously  that  had  been  excited,  would  subside,  and 
' '  this,  I  am  happy  to  be  informed,  has  universally  taken  place. 

"  It  only  remains  for  me  to  express  the  sense  I  entertain  of  the  honor  conferred  by  the  last 
"  General  Meeting  in  electing  me  their  President,  and  to  implore  in  future  the  benediction  of 
"  Heaven  on  the  virtuous  associates  in  this  illustrious  Institution. 
"  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

"  Your  most  obedt.  &  most  Hble  Servt, 

"  GO.  WASHINGTON." 

He  longed  for  retirement,  and  in  his  letter  he  touched  feelingly  and 
modestly  upon  what  he  had  done.  But  his  work  was  not  completed  ;  he  had 
secured  for  the  Colonies  their  independence  ;  they  were  separate  associated 
States,  independent  each  of  the  other,  and  of  foreign  control,  claiming  sovereignty 
without  the  power  or  the  means  of  exercising  or  enforcing  its  attributes  in  their 
separate,  and  still  less  in  their  associated  capacity  ;  but  they  had,  yet,  no  national 
consistency. 

Commissioners  from  some  of  the  States,  assembled  in  Annapolis  in  the 
Autumn  of  1786,  had  recommended  the  appointment  of  Commissioners  from 
all  the  States,  to  meet  in  Philadelphia  on  the  second  Monday  of  the  succeeding 
May,  "  to  take  into  consideration  the  situation  of  the  United  States,  to  devise 
"  such  further  provisions  as  shall  appear  to  them  necessary  to  render  the  Consti- 
"  tution  of  the  Federal  Government  adequate  to  the  exigencies  of  the  Union,  etc." 

The  General  Assembly  of  Virginia  passed  an  act  for  the  appointment  of 
deputies  to  the  proposed  Convention,  and  Mr.  Madison,  in  communicating  to  Gen. 
Washington  the  measures  which  had  been  adopted  in  Virginia,  said,  "  It  has 
"  been  thought  adviseable  to  give  this  subject  a  very  solemn  dress,  and  all  the 
"  weight  which  could  be  derived  from  a  single  State.  This  idea  will  also  be  pur- 


8  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

"  sued  in  the  selection  of  characters  to  represent  Virginia  in  the  Federal  Con- 
"  vention.  You  will  infer  our  earnestness  on  this  point  from  the  liberty  which 
"  will  be  used  of  placing  your  name  at  the  head  of  them." 

"  Although,"  said  the  General  in  reply,  "  I  have  bid  a  public  adieu  to  the 
"  public  walks  of  life,  and  had  resolved  never  more  to  tread  that  theatre,  yet, 
"  if  upon  an  occasion  so  interesting  to  the  well-being  of  the  Confederacy,  it 
"  had  been  the  wish  of  the  Assembly  that  I  should  be  an  associate  in  the 
"  business  of  revising  the  federal  system,  I  should,  from  a  sense  of  the  obliga- 
"  tion  I  am  under  for  repeated  proofs  of  confidence  in  me,  more  than  from  any 
"  opinion  I  could  entertain  of  my  usefulness,  have  obeyed  its  call  ;  but  it  is  now 
"  out  of  my  power  to  do  this  with  any  degree  of  consistency."  Referring  then 
to  his  having  been  rechosen  President  of  the  Cincinnati  Society,  and  that  the 
triennial  meeting  of  the  Society  is  to  be  held  in  Philadelphia  in  May  following 
(the  same  place  and  month  named  for  the  meeting  of  the  Federal  Convention), 
his  letter  proceeds :  "  Some  particular  reasons  combining  with  the  peculiar 
situation  of  my  private  concerns,  the  necessity  of  paying  attention  to  them, 
"  a  wish  for  retirement  and  relaxation  from  public  cares,  and  rheumatic  pains 
"  which  I  begin  to  feel  very  sensibly,  induced  me,  on  the  3ist  ultimo,  to  address 
"  a  circular  letter  to  each  State  Society,  informing  them  of  my  intention  not  to 
"be  at  the  next  meeting,  and  of  my  desire  not  to  be  rechosen  President. 
«  *  *  *  Under  these  circumstances  it  will  be  readily  perceived  that  I  could 
"  not  appear  at  the  same  time  and  place  on  any  other  occasion  without  giving 
"offence  to  a  very  respectable  and  deserving  part  of  the  community — the 
"  late  officers  of  the  American  army." 

Notwithstanding  this  letter,  the  Legislature  of  Virginia  unanimously  chose 
him  to  be  a  member  of  the  Convention,  placing  his  the  first  of  the  seven  illus 
trious  names  selected;  and  Madison,  communicating  to  him  the  action  of  the 
Legislature,  and  acknowledging  the  letter  above  cited,  says  :  "  It  was  the  opinion 
"  of  every  judicious  friend  whom  I  consulted  that  your  name  could  not  be 
"spared  from  the  deputation  to  the  meeting  in  May,  at  Philadelphia." 

Washington's  reply,  dated  i6th  December,  1786,  enters  into  a  fuller  state 
ment  of  the  considerations  which  appeared  to  him  to  oppose  his  acceptance 
of  the  appointment  made  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia.  Besides  the 
reasons  assigned  in  his  circular  letter  to  the  Cincinnati  Societies  for  his  non- 
attendance  at  their  meeting  in  the  following  May,  there  existed  one  (he  says) 
which  " in  confidence"  he  communicates.  He  then  refers  to  the  formation  of 
the  Cincinnati  Society,  the  honesty  of  its  purposes,  and  the  charity  of  its 
objects  ;  that  jealousies  and  alarm  had  arisen  ;  that,  to  avoid  the  irritations 
which  he  feared  would  arise,  he  had  exerted  himself  to  effect  the  changes  which 
had  been  recommended  by  the  General  Meeting  in  May,  1784.  These  changes 
had  not  been  acceded  to.  "The  part"  (he  says)  "that  I  should  have  to  act 
"would  be  delicate."  "I  should  feel  myself  in  an  awkward  situation  to  be  in 
"  Philadelphia  on  another  public  occasion  during  the  sitting  of  this  Society." 

Replying  to  the  official  announcement  by  Governor  Randolph  of  his  being 
chosen  a  delegate,  he  wrote  :  "  *  *  *  There  exist  at  this  moment  circum- 
"  stances  which  I  am  persuaded  will  render  this  fresh  instance  of  confidence 
"incompatible  with  other  measures  which  I  had  previously  adopted." 

Trusted  intimate  friends  and  powerful  influences  urged  his  acceptance  of 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  9 

the  appointment,  and  that  "  a  suspense  of  his  ultimate  determination  would  be 
nowise  inconvenient  in  a  public  view." 

On  3d  February,  1787,  he  wrote  to  General  Knox,  in  reply  to  an  inquiry  as 
to. his  intentions  respecting  the  Federal  Convention  :  "In  confidence,  I  inform 
"  you  that  it  is  not,  at  this  time,  my  intention  to  attend  it ;"  that  having  objected 
to  the  use  of  his  name  for  the  appointment,  "  they  again  pressed  and  I  again 
"  refused,  assigning,  among  other  reasons,  my  having  declined  meeting  the 
"  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  at  that  place,  about  the  same  time,  and  that  I  thought 
"it  would  be  disrespectful  to  that  body,  to  whom  I  owe  so  much,  to  be  there  on 
"  any  other  occasion."  *  *  *  "I  have  been  requested  in  emphatic  terms 
"  not  to  decide  absolutely  " — "  thus  the  matter  stands,  saying  to  you  in  confidence 
"that  at  present  I  hold  to  my  first  intention  not  to  go." 

In  reply  to  a  letter  from  Governor  Randolph,  Washington,  under  date  of 
a8th  March,  after  adverting  to  the  determination  he  had  previously  expressed, 
and  his  reluctance  to  leave  home,  and  to  be  "  swept  back  into  the  tide  of  public 
affairs,"  and,  to  the  "  unusual  degree  of  solicitude  "  expressed  by  his  friends, 
he  says,  "I  have  come  to  a  resolution  to  go,  if  my  health  will  permit."  "I 
"would  set  off  for  that  place"  (Philadelphia)  "the  ist  or  2d  of  May,  that  I 
"  might  be  there  in  time  to  account  personally  for  my  conduct  to  the  General 
"  Meeting  of  the  Cincinnati,  which  is  to  convene  the  first  Monday  of  that  month. 
"  My  feelings  would  be  much  hurt  if  that  body  should  otherwise  ascribe  my 
"attending  the  one  and  not  the  other  to  a  disrespectful  inattention  to  the 
"  Society,  when  the  fact  is  that  I  shall  ever  retain  the  most  lively  and  affectionate 
"regard  for  the  members  of  it  on  account  of  their  attachment  to  me  and 
"  uniform  support  upon  many  trying  occasions,  as  well  as  on  account  of  their 
"  public  virtues,  patriotism  and  sufferings." 

In  common  with  very  many  other  thoughtful  and  patriotic  statesmen,  Wash 
ington  was  not  without  misgivings  as  to  the  proposed  Convention,  and  so  late 
as  the  3ist  March  he  writes  to  Madison  :  "  I  am  glad  to  find  that  Congress  have 
"  recommended  the  States  to  appear  in  the  Convention.  I  think  that  the  reasons 
"in  favour  have  a  preponderance  over  those  against  it." 

On  ~2d  April  he  wrote  to  Knox  :  "  As  I  see,  or  think  I  see,  reasons  for  and 
"  against  my  attendance  in  Convention  so  near  an  equilibrium  as  will  cause  me 
"to  determine  upon  either  with  difficulty."  *  *  *  " If  I  should  attend  the 
"the  Convention  I  will  be  in  Philadelphia  previous  to  the  meeting  of  the  Cin 
cinnati."  *****  «-\vill  the  modifications  and  alterations"  (those 
proposed  in  1784)  "be  insisted  on  in  the  next  meeting  or  given  up?  If  the 
"  former,  will  it  not  occasion  warmth  and  divisions  ?  If  the  latter,  and  I  should 
"remain  at  the  head  of  this  order,  in  what  light  would  my  signature  appear  in 
"  recommendations  having  different  tendencies  ?  In  what  light  will  this  versa- 
"  tility  appear  to  the  foreign  members  who  perhaps  are  acting  agreeably  to  the 
"  recommendations  ?" 

Having  determined  to  attend  both  the  meeting  of  the  Cincinnati  and  the 
Convention,  as  he  was  preparing  to  leave  home  that  he  might  be  present  at  the 
former  meeting,  on  the  first  Monday  of  May  (the  Convention  being  called  to 
meet  on  the  second  Monday  in  the  same  month),  he  received  on  26th  April,  by 
express,  intelligence  that  his  mother  and  sister  were  dangerously  ill. 

He  then  addressed  the  following  letter  to  General  Knox,  the  Secretary- 
General  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  : 


TO  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

"  MOUNT  VERNON  27th  Aprl  1787 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR, 

"  After  every  consideration  my  judgment  was  able  to  give  the  subject,  I  have  determined  to 
' '  yield  to  the  wishes  of  many  of  my  friends  who  seemed  extremely  anxious  for  my  attending 
"the  convention,  which  is  proposed  to  be  holden  in  Philadelphia  the  second  Monday  of  May.— 
' '  And  tho'  so  much  afflicted  with  a  rheumatic  complaint  (of  which  I  have  not  been  entirely  free 
"  for  six  months)  as  to  be  under  the  necessity  of  carrying  my  arm  in  a  sling  for  the  last  ten  days, 
' '  I  have  fixed  on  Monday  next  for  my  departure  ;  and  had  made  every  necessary  arrangement  for 
' '  the  purpose  when  (within  this  hour)  I  am  summoned  by  an  express  who  assures  me  not  a  moment 
"  is  to  be  lost,  to  see  a  mother  and  only  sister  (who  are  supposed  to  be  in  the  agonies  of  death) 
"  expire  ;  and  I  am  hastening  to  obey  this  melancholy  call,  after  having  just  bid  an  eternal  fare- 
' '  well  to  a  much  loved  Brother  who  was  the  intimate  companion  of  my  youth  and  the  most 
"  affectionate  friend  of  my  ripened  age. 

"  This  journey  (of  more  than  one  hundred  miles)  in  the  disordered  state  of  my  body  will,  I 
"  am  persuaded,  unfit  me  for  the  intended  trip  to  Philadelphia,  &  assuredly  prevent  me  from 
"  offering  that  tribute  of  respect  to  my  compatriots  in  arms  which  results  from  affection  and 
' '  gratitude  for  their  attachment  to,  and  support  of  me  upon  so  many  trying  occasions. 

"  For  this  purpose  it  was,  as  I  had,  tho'  with  a  good  deal  of  reluctance  consented  (from  a 
"  conviction  that  our  affairs  were  verging  fast  to  ruin,  to  depart  from  the  resolution  I  had  taken, 
"  of  never  more  stepping  out  of  the  walks  of  private  life)  to  serve  in  this  convention,  that  I  deter- 
"  mined  to  shew  my  respect  to  the  Gen'l  meeting  of  the  Society,  by  coming  to  Philadelphia  during 
"its  sitting — As  the  latter  is  prevented,  and  the  highest  probability  the  other  will  not  take  place, 
"  I  send  such  papers  as  have,  from  time  to  time  come  to  my  hands,  and  may  require  inspection 
"  and  the  consideration  of  the  Cincinnati,  to  your  care." 

"  I  make  a  tender  of  my  affectionate  regards  for  the  members  who  may  constitute  the  General 
"  meeting  of  the  Society,  and  with  sentiments  of  the  highest  esteem, 

"  I  am —     My  dear  Sir 

"Yr  Obedt  Hble  Servt 

"GO.  WASHINGTON. 

"  MAJ'R  GENL  KNOX." 

Washington,  being  thus  delayed,  did  not  reach  Philadelphia  by  the  first  Mon 
day  of  May  (the  7th),  on  which  day  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  met,  ten  State 
Societies  being  represented. 

The  Federal  Convention,  although  called  for  the  second  Monday  of  May 
(the  i4th),  failed  to  obtain  a  sufficient  number  of  members  in  attendance,  to 
constitute  a  representation  of  a  majority  of  the  States,  until  the  25th  May,  on 
which  day  General  Washington  was  elected  their  President  and  the  Convention 
organized  and  proceeded  to  business. 

In  the  mean  time  the  meeting  of  the  Cincinnati  had  completed  their  business, 
and  had  adjourned  on  the  ipth  day  of  May,  having  unanimously  reflected  Gene 
ral  Washington  President  of  the  Society. 

Jefferson  had  written  to  Washington  from  Paris  i4th  November,  1786, 
denouncing  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  in  unmeasured  terms,  enclosing  an 
article  from  the  Encyclopedic  Methodique,  written  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  which  it  is 
but  justice  to  Jefferson  to  state  that  he  claims  that  the  editor  "  used  his  (Jeffer 
son's)  materials,  mixing  a  great  deal  of  his  own  with  thdm,"  adding,  "  I  thought 
it  material  to  set  facts  to  rights  as  much  as  possible." 

This  letter  remained  unanswered  until  3oth  May,  1787,  when  Washington 
replied,  intimating  a  very  decided  dissent  from  the  correctness  of  some  of  the 
statements  of  the  Encyclopedic  article,  "  insomuch  that  it  is  commonly  said,  truth 
"  and  falsehood  are  so  intimately  blended,  that  it  will  become  very  difficult  to 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  II 

"  sever  them."  He  points  out  some  circumstances  "in  the  narration,  of  which 
"  palpable  mistakes  seem  to  have  insinuated  themselves."  He  refers  to  his  having 
been  appointed  by  his  native  State  to  attend  the  Convention,  then  in  session,  and 
thus  being  present  in  Philadelphia  at  the  time  of  the  General  Meeting  of  the 
Cincinnati  and  being  again  elected  President,  "  after  which  I  was  not  at  liberty 
"  to  decline  the  Presidency,  without  placing  myself  in  an  extremely  disagreeable 
"  situation  with  relation  to  that  brave  and  faithful  class  of  men,  whose  per- 
"  severing  patriotism  and  friendship  I  had  experienced  on  so  many  trying 
"  occasions." 

On  ;th  September,  1788,  more  than  fifteen  months  after  his  third  election 
to  the  Presidency  of  the  Society,  he  wrote:  "  I  have  once  been  a  witness  to  what 
"  I  conceived  to  have  been  a  most  unreasonable  prejudice  against  an  innocent 
"  institution.  I  mean  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati.  *  *  *  I  was  convinced 
"  that  the  members,  actuated  by  motives  of  sensibility,  charity,  and  patriotism, 
"  were  doing  a  laudable  thing  in  erecting  that  memorial  of  their  common  ser- 
"  vices,  sufferings,  and  friendships." 

In  May,  1789,  in  reply  to  a  congratulatory  address,  presented  by  a  Committee 
of  the  Cincinnati  Society  to  him,  then  recently  inaugurated  President  of  the 
United  States,  he  said;  "The  candour  of  your  fellow-citizens  acknowledges  the 
"  patriotism  of  your  conduct  in  peace,  as  their  gratitude  has  declared  their 
"  obligations  for  your  fortitude  and  perseverance  in  war.  A  knowledge  that 
"  they  now  do  justice  to  the  purity  of  your  intentions,  ought  to  be  your  highest 
"  consolation  as  the  fact  is  demonstrative  of  your  greatest  glory." 

If  further  evidence  be  needed  to  confute  the  assertion,  which  has  gone  into 
"  history"  and  for  a  time  was  assiduously  circulated,  that  Washington  had  with 
drawn  his  confidence  from  the  Society,  and  that  he  refused  the  Presidency,  it 
may  be  found  in  the  record  of  his  official  acts — receiving  and  signing  official 
letters  and  documents  through  succeeding  years — and  in  his  successive  elections 
as  President  in  1790,  1793,  1/96,  1799. 


XfiAJT.  <83ES. 


THE    INSTITUTION 


OF 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  THE  CINCINNATI 


CANTONMENT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ARMY,  / 
On  Hudson  s  River,  \oth  May,  1783.       [ 

PROPOSALS*  for  establishing  a  Society  upon  principles  therein  mentioned, 
whose  members  shall  be  the  officers  of  the  American  Army,  having  been 
communicated  to  the  several  regiments  of  the  respective  lines,  they  appointed 
an  officer  from  each,  who,  in  conjunction  with  the  General  Officers,  should 
take  the  same  into  consideration  at  their  meeting  this  day,  at  which  the 
Honorable  Major-General  Baron  de  STEUBEN,  the  senior  officer  present,  was 
pleased  to  preside. 

The  proposals  being  read,  fully  considered,  paragraph  by  paragraph,  and 
the  amendments  agreed  to,  Major-General  KNOX,  Brigadier-General  HAND, 
Brigadier-General  HUNTINGTON,  and  Captain  SHAW  were  chosen  to  revise  the 
same,  and  prepare  a  copy  to  be  laid  before  this  Assembly  at  their  next  meeting, 
to  be  holden  at  Major-General  Baron  de  STEUBEN'S  quarters,  on  Tuesday,  the 
inst. 

TUESDAY,   \$th  May,   1783. 

The  representatives  of  the  American  Army  being  assembled,  agreeably  to 
adjournment,  the  plan  for  establishing  a  Society,  whereof  the  officers  of  the 
American  Army  are  to  be  members,  is  accepted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz.  : 

(Gen.  Knox's  proposal.)  (Institution  as  adopted.) 

Whereas,  it  has  pleased  the  Supreme  Gover-  "  It  having  pleased  the  Supreme  Governor  of 

nor  of    the    Universe,    in  the    disposition    of  the    Universe,    in  the    disposition    of    human 

human  affairs,   to  cause  the  separation  of  the  affairs,  to  cause  the  separation  of  the  Colonies 

colonies  of  North  America  from  the  domination  of    North    America   from   the   domination    of 

of  Great  Britain,  and  after  a  bloody  conflict  of  Great  Britain,   and   after  a  bloody  conflict  of 

eight  years,  to  establish  them  free,  independent,  eight  years,  to  establish  them  free,  independent, 

and   sovereign  States,  connected,    by  alliances  and  sovereign  States,   connected,   by  alliances 

founded  upon  reciprocal  advantages,  with  some  founded   on  reciprocal  advantages,  with  some 

of  the  greatest  princes  and  powers  of  the  earth.  of  the  greatest  princes  and  powers  of  the  earth. 

*  These  "  proposals"  are  understood  to  have  been  embodied  in  a  paper  (still  in  existence)  in  the  handwrit 
ing  of  General  Knox,  dated  "  Westpoint,  15  April,  1785,"  proposing  a  plan  of  organization  of  a  Society  to  be 
formed  of  Officers  of  the  American  Army,  to  be  known  as  the  "  Cincinnati."  This  plan  is  herewith  printed 
in  parallel  columns  with  the  "  Institution"  as  adopted. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


To  perpetuate,  therefore,  as  well  the  remem 
brance  of  this  great  event,  as  the  mutual  friend 
ships  which  have  been  formed  under  the  pressure 
of  common  danger,  and  in  numerous  instances 
cemented  by  the  blood  of  the  parties,  the 
officers  of  the  American  Army  do  hereby  in  the 
most  solemn  manner  associate,  constitute  and 
combine  themselves  into  one  Society  of  Friends, 
to  endure  while  they  shall  endure,  or  any  of 
their  oldest  male  posterity,  who  may  be  judged 
worthy  of  becoming  its  supporters  and  members. 


"To  perpetuate,  therefore,  as  well  the  re 
membrance  of  this  vast  event,  as  the  mutual 
friendships  which  have  been  formed  under  the 
pressure  of  common  danger,  and  in  many  in 
stances  cemented  by  the  blood  of  the  parties, 
the  officers  of  the  American  Army  do,  hereby, 
in  the  most  solemn  manner,  associate,  con 
stitute,  and  combine  themselves  into  one 
SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS,  to  endure  as  long  as  they 
shall  endure,  or  any  of  their  eldest  male  pos 
terity,  and  in  failure  thereof,  the  collateral 
branches,*  who  may  be  judged  worth  of  be 
coming  its  supporters  and  members. 


The  officers  of  the  American  Army,  having 
generally  been  taken  from  the  citizens  of  Amer 
ica,  profess  high  veneration  for  the  character 
of  that  illustrious  Roman  Quintius  Cincinnatus; 
and  being  resolved  to  follow  his  example,  by 
returning  to  their  citizenship  again,  they  think 
they  may,  with  propriety,  denominate  them 
selves  The  Society  of  "  The  Cincinnati." 

The  objects  of  this  Association  shall  be  an 
incessant  attention  to  preserve  inviolate  those 
exalted  rights  and  liberties  of  human  nature,  for 
which  they  have  fought  and  bled,  and  without 
which  the  high  rank  of  a  rational  being  is  a 
curse  instead  of  a  blessing. 


' '  The  officers  of  the  American  Army  having 
generally  been  taken  from  the  citizens  of  Amer 
ica,  possess  high  veneration  for  the  character  of 
that  illustrious  Roman,  Lucius  QUINTIUS  CIN 
CINNATUS;  and  being  resolved  to  follow  his 
example,  by  returning  to  their  citizenship,  they 
think  they  may,  with  propriety,  denominate 
themselves  THE  SOCIETY  OF  THE  CINCINNATI. 

"The  following  principles  shall  be  immut 
able,  and  form  the  basis  of  the  Society  of  the 
Cincinnati : 

"  An  incessant  attention  to  preserve  inviolate 
those  exalted  rights  and  liberties  of  human 
nature,  for  which  they  have  fought  and  bled, 
and  without  which  the  high  rank  of  a  rational 
being  is  a  curse  instead  of  a  blessing. 


An  unalterable  determination  to  promote  by 
all  legal  means  that  Union  and  harmony,  be 
tween  the  respective  States,  so  essentially  nec 
essary  to  their  happiness,  and  the  future  dignity 
of  the  American  Empire. 


"An  unalterable  determination  to  promote 
and  cherish,  between  the  respective  States,  that 
union  and  national  honor,  so  essentially  neces 
sary  to  their  happiness,  and  the  future  dignity 
of  the  American  empire. 


To  render  permanent  the  cordial  affection  sub 
sisting  among  the  officers,  which  shall  dictate 
brotherly  kindness  in  all  things,  and  particularly 
shall  extend  to  the  most  substantial  acts  of  bene 
ficence  to  those  officers,  who  unfortunately  may 


' '  To  render  permanent  the  cordial  affection 
subsisting  among  the  officers.  This  spirit  will 
dictate  brotherly  kindness  in  all  things,  and 
particularly  extend  to  the  most  substantial  acts 
of  beneficence,  according  to  the  ability  of  the 


*  This  expression  "  collateral  branches "  (introduced  by  the  Committee  to  which  General  Knox's 
draft  was  referred)  has  led  to  some  confusion,  and  to  the  idea  that  it  might  apply  to  persons  claiming 
descent  from  a  collateral  relative  of  the  original  member.  This  construction  would,  in  many  instances, 
when,  as  was  not  infrequently  the  case,  families  were  divided,  in  their  allegiance,  admit  the  descendants 
of  those  who  adhered  to  the  British  Government  and  resisted  the  efforts  for  Independence. 

The  word  "branches"  is  introduced  by  the  Committee  a  second  time  in  a  connection  that  leaves  no 
question  that  it  was  understood  and  used  as  a  synonym  for  "offspring" — "  descendant,"  viz.,  "as  a  testi- 
"  mony  of  affection  to  the  memory,  and  the  offspring  of  such  officers  as  have  died  in  the  service,  their 
"eldest  male  branches  shall  have  the  same  right  of  becoming  members  as  the  children  of  the  actual  mem- 
"bersof  the  Society." 

The  whole  tenor  of  the  Institution  is  to  confine  the  succession   to   the  descendants  of  original  members. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


be  under  the  necessity  of  demanding  it,  accord 
ing  to  the  ability  of  the  Society.  These  princi 
ples  shall  be  immutable,  and  shall  form  the 
basis  of  the  Society  of  Cincinnati. 

The  General  Society  will,  for  the  sake  of  fre 
quent  communications,  be  divided  into  State 
Societies,  and  these  again  subdivided  into  Coun- 
tySocieties,  or  in  such  Districts  as  shall  be  di 
rected  by  the  State  Society. 

The  Society  of  the  Counties,  to  meet  once  in 
every  three  months;  those  of  the  States  once  in 
every  year,  and  the  General  Society  once  every 
three  years. 


At  each  meeting,  the  principles  of  the  Insti 
tution,  with  the  best  measures  to  promote  them, 
will  be  considered  and  adopted. 

But  it  will  be  necessary  that  the  respective 
Societies  should  have  their  particular  duties 
assigned,  that  the  several  parts  may  form  one 
system. 

The  County  Societies  shall  have  a  Vice- Presi 
dent,  Deputy  Secretary,  and  Deputy  Treasurer, 
to  be  chosen  annually  by  themselves. 

The  Deputy  Secretary  shall  have  a  book  in 
which  shall  be  recorded  the  names  of  all  the 
members  of  the  General  Society,  the  members 
who  compose  the  State  Society,  and  the  par 
ticular  members  and  officers  of  the  County  So 
ciety,  and  another  book  in  which  shall  be 
regularly  stated  the  proceedings  of  the  County 
Society,  with  all  the  official  letters  written  and 
received.  He  shall  also  transmit  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  State  Society  the  names  of  the  offi 
cers  of  the  County  Society  for  the  current  year. 

The  Deputy  Treasurer  shall  have  a  book  in 
which  shall  be  recorded  an  exact  state  of  his 
proceedings,  and  of  the  moneys  which  he  may 
from  time  to  time  receive  of  the  respective 
members,  and  the  appropriations  of  the  same. 
At  each  quarterly  meeting  he  shall  receive  such 
sums  as  the  members  may  subscribe  for  the  re 
lief  of  the  indigent  members  of  the  State  So 
ciety,  and  he  shall  transmit  the  same  annually 
to  the  Treasurer  of  the  State  Society,  togethei 
with  the  names  of  the  subscribers. 

It  will  be  a  rule  that  no  money  will  be  col 
lected  but  at  the  quarterly  meetings,  and  that 
it  shall  be  perfectly  optional  to  subscribe,  or 
not,  and  such  sums  as  each  member  shall  think 
proper. 


Society,  towards  those  officers  and  their  fami 
lies  who  unfortunately  may  be  under  the  neces 
sity  of  receiving  it. 

"  The  General  Society  will,  for  the  sake  of 
frequent  communications,  be  divided  into  State 
Societies,  and  these  again  into  such  districts  as 
shall  be  directed  by  the  State  Society. 

"The  Societies  of  the  districts  to  meet  as 
often  as  shall  be  agreed  upon  by  the  State  So 
ciety;  those  of  the  State  on  the  fourth  day  of 
July  annually,  or  oftener,  if  they  shall  find  Jt 
expedient;  and  the  General  Society  on  the  first 
Monday  in  May  annually,  so  long-as  they  shall 
deem  it  necessary,  and  afterwards,  at  least  once 
in  every  three  years. 

"  At  each  meeting,  the  principles  of  the  In 
stitution  will  be  fully  considered,  and  the  best 
measures  to  promote  them  adopted. 


i6 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


The  State  Societies  will  consist  of  all  the 
officers  residing  in  each  State,  respectively,  or 
such  of  them  as  may  think  proper  to  attend. 
The  officers  of  the  County  Society  must  attend 
ex  ojficio. 


"  The  State  Societies  will  consist  of  all  the 
members  resident  in  each  State  repectively;  and 
any  member  removing  from  one  State  to  an 
other,  is  to  be  considered,  in  all  respects,  as 
belonging  to  the  Society  of  the  State  in  which 
he  shall  actually  reside. 


The  State  Societies  shall  have  a  President, 
Secretary,  and  Treasurer,  to  be  chosen  annually 
by  a  majority  of  the  votes  at  the  State  meeting. 


"  The  State  Societies  to  have  a  President, 
Vice-President,  Secretary,  Treasurer,  and 
Assistant  Treasurer,  to  be  chosen  annually  by 
a  majority  of  votes,  at  the  State  meeting. 


The  State  meeting  shall  write  annually  a  cir 
cular  letter  to  the  other  State  Societies,  noting 
whatever  they  may  think  worthy  of  observation, 
respecting  the  good  of  the  Society,  or  the  gene 
ral  government  of  the  United  States,  and  giving 
information  of  the  officers  chosen  for  the  current 
year,  and  a  copy  of  this  letter  shall  be  punct 
ually  transmitted  to  the  Secretary-General  of  the 
Society,  who  shall  record  it  in  a  book  to  be 
kept  for  that  purpose. 


"Each  State  meeting  shall  write  annually, 
or  oftener,  if  necessary,  a  circular  letter,  to  the 
other  State  Societies,  noting  whatever  they  may 
think  worthy  of  observation,  respecting  the 
good  of  the  Society,  or  the  general  union  of 
the  States,  and  giving  information  of  the  offi 
cers  chosen  for  the  current  year.  Copies  of 
these  letters  shall  be  regularly  transmitted  to 
the  Secretary-General  of  the  Society,  who  will 
record  them  in  a  book  to  be  assigned  for  that 
purpose. 


The  State  Society  will  have  the  right  to  regu 
late  every  thing  respecting  itself,  consistent 
with  the  general  maxims  of  the  Cincinnati.  To 
judge  of  the  qualifications  of  the  members  who 
may  be  proposed;  to  expel  any  member,  who, 
by  a  conduct  inconsistent  with  a  gentleman  and 
man  of  honor,  or  by  an  opposition  to  the  inter 
ests  of  the  community  in  general,  or  Society  in 
particular,  may  render  himself  unworthy  to  con 
tinue  a  member. 


"  The  State  Society  will  regulate  everything 
respecting  itself  and  the  Societies  of  the  Dis 
tricts,  consistent  with  the  general  maxims  of 
the  Cincinnati;  judge  of  the  qualifications  of 
the  members  who  may  be  proposed ;  and  expel 
any  member,  who,  by  conduct  inconsistent 
with  a  gentleman  and  a  man  of  honor,  or  by 
an  opposition  to  the  interests  of  the  commu 
nity  in  general  or  the  Society  in  particular, 
may  render  himself  unworthy  to  continue  a 
member. 


The  moneys  which  may  be  furnished  by  the 
County  Societies,  shall  be  appropriated  by  the 
State  Society,  by  a  majority  of  votes  to  the  un 
fortunate  members,  or  their  widows,  or  orphans. 
The  whole  sum  raised  shall  be  distributed  annu 
ally  for  the  first  ten  years  of  the  Institution, 
provided  that  proper  objects  claim  the  relief  of 
the  Society;  but  after  that  period  the  interest 
only  shall  be  expended,  and  the  principal  shall 
be  formed  into  a  perpetual  fund  for  the  bene 
volent  purposes  before  recited. 


' '  In  order  to  form  funds  which  may  be 
respectable,  and  assist  the  unfortunate,  each 
officer  shall  deliver  to  the  Treasurer  of  the 
State  Society,  one  month's  pay,  which  shall 
remain  for  ever  to  the  use  of  the  State  Society; 
the  interest  only  of  which,  if  necessary,  to  be 
appropriated  to  the  relief  of  the  unfortunate. 

' '  Donations  may  be  made  by  persons  not  of 
the  Society,  and  by  members  of  the  Society, 
for  the  express  purpose  of  forming  permanent 
funds  for  the  use  of  the  State  Society;  and  the 
interest  of  these  donations  appropriated  in  the 
same  manner  as  that  of  the  months'  pay. 

"  Moneys,  at  the  pleasure  of  each  member, 
may  be  subscribed  in  the  Societies  of  the  Dis 
tricts,  or  the  State  Societies,  for  the  relief  of 
the  unfortunate  members,  or  their  widows  and 
orphans,  to  be  appropriated  by  the  State  So 
ciety  only. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THF.    CINCINNATI. 


The  General  Meeting  of  the  Society  shall 
consist  of  all  the  members,  who  may  find  it  con 
venient  to  attend;  but  the  officers,  that  is  to 
say,  the  President,  Secretary,  and  Treasurer  of 
the  State  Societies,  shall  consider  themselves 
under  indispensable  obligations  to  attend. 

In  the  General  Meeting,  the  President-Gene 
ral,  and  the  Secretary-General,  shall  be  chosen 
to  serve  until  the  next  triennial  meeting. 

The  circular  letters  which  have  been  written 
annually  by  the  respective  State  Societies  to 
each  other,  shall  be  read  and  considered,  and 
all  such  measures  concerted  as  may  conduce  to 
advance  the  general  intendments  of  the  Society. 


All  the  officers  of  the  American  Army,  as  well 
those  who  have  resigned  with  honor,  or  who 
have  been  dismissed  by  the  regulations  of  Con 
gress,  upon  the  respective  reforms  of  the  army, 
as  those  who  shall  continue  to  the  end  of  the 
war  are  free  to  become  parties  to  this  In 
stitution,  provided  that  they  sign  their  names 
to  the  general  rules  in  each  State  Society  with 
in  two  years  after  the  army  shall  be  disbanded, 
specifying  opposite  their  names,  their  time  of 
service,  and  the  resolution  of  Congress,  by 
which  any  may  have  been  deranged,  and  the 
place  of  residence  of  each  member. 


"  The  meeting  of  the  General  Society  shall 
consist  of  its  officers,  and  a  representation 
from  each  State  Society,  in  number  not  exceed 
ing  five,  whose  expenses  shall  be  borne  by 
their  respective  State  Societies. 

"In  the  General  Meeting,  the  President, 
Vice-President,  Secretary,  Assistant  Secretary, 
Treasurer,  and  Assistant  Treasurer-General, 
shall  be  chosen  to  serve  until  the  next  meeting. 

"  The  circular,  letters  which  have  been  writ 
ten  by  the  respective  State  Societies  to  each 
other,  and  their  particular  laws,  shall  be  read 
and  considered,  and  all  measures  concerted 
which  may  conduce  to  the  general  intendment 
of  the  Society. 

"  It  is  probable  that  some  persons  may  make 
donation ;  to  the  General  Society,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  establishing  funds  for  the  further  com 
fort  of  t'.i:  unfortunate;  in  which  case  such 
donations  must  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
Treasurer-General,  the  interest  only  of  which 
to  be  disposed  of,  if  necessary,  by  the  General 
Meeting. 

"All  the  officers  of  the  American  Army,  as 
well  those  who  have  resigned  with  honor,  after 
three  years'  service  in  the  capacity  of  officers, 
or  who  have  been  deranged  by  the  resolutions 
of  Congress,  upon  the  several  reforms  of  the 
army,  as  those  who  shall  have  continued  to  the 
end  of  the  war,  have  the  right  to  become  par 
ties  to  this  Institution;  provided  that  they  sub 
scribe  one  month's  pay,  and  sign  their  names 
to  the  general  rules,  in  their  respective  State 
Societies — those  who  are  present  with  the 
army,  immediately,  and  others  within  six 
months  after  the  army  shall  be  disbanded, 
extraordinary  cases  exccpted.  The  rank,  time 
of  service,  resolutions  of  Congress  by  which 
any  have  been  deranged,  and  place  of  residence, 
must  be  added  to  each  name ;  and  as  a  testi 
mony  of  affection  to  the  memory  and  the  off 
spring  of  such  officers  as  have  died  in  the  ser 
vice,  their  eldest  male  branches  shall  have  the 
same  right  of  becoming  members,  as  the  child 
ren  of  the  actual  members  of  the  Society. 

"  Those  officers  who  are  foreigners,  not 
resident  in  any  of  the  States,  will  have  their 
names  enrolled  by  the  Secretary-General,  and 
are  to  be  considered  as  members  in  the  Socie 
ties  of  any  of  the  States  in  which  they  may 
happen  to  be. 

"  And  as  there  are,  and  will  at  all  times  be, 
men  in  the  respective  States,  eminent  for  their 
abilities  and  patriotism,  whose  views  may  be 


i8 


THE    SOCIF.TY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


Each  State  Society  shall  obtain  a  list  of  its 
members,  and,  at  the  first  annual  meeting,  the 
State  Secretary  shall  have  three  copies  of  the 
Institution  of  the  Society,  engrossed  upon 
parchment,  when  every  member  present,  shall 
sign;  and  the  Secretary  shall  endeavor  to  pro 
cure  the  signatures  of  every  absent  member. 
One  of  these  to  be  transmitted  to  the  Secre 
tary-General,  to  be  kept  among  the  archives  of 
the  Society,  one  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  the 
State  Secretary,  and  one  to  go  to  the  County 
Secretaries.  From  these  State  lists  the  Secre 
tary-General  must  make  out,  at  the  first  gene 
ral  meeting,  a  complete  list  of  the  whole  Society, 
a  copy  of  which  he  will  furnish  each  Secretary 
of  the  State  Societies,  who  will  transmit  them 
to  the  County  Societies. 

The  Society  shall  have  an  Order,  by  which 
it  shall  be  known  and  distinguished,  which  shall 
be  a  medal  of  gold  or  silver,  of  a  proper  size 
to  receive  these  emblems,  the  principal  figure 

CINCINNATUS: 

Three   Senators  presenting  him  with  a  sword 

and  other  military  ensigns — on  a   field  in 

the  back-ground,  his  wife  standing  at 

the  door  of  their  Cottage — near  it 

A    YOKED  PLOUGH  AND  INSTRUMENTS  OF    HUS 
BANDRY. 

Round  the  whole, 

OMNIA    RELIQUIT    SERVARE     REM- 
PUBL1CAM. 
On  the  reverse, 

Sun  rising — a  city  with  open  gates,  and  vessels 
entering  the  port — Fame  crowninig  CIN 
CINNATUS  with  a  wreath,  inscribed 

VIRTUTIS    PREMIUM. 

Beneath, 

HANDS    JOINED,    SUPPORTING    A    HEART, 

With  the  motto, 

E  S  T  O     P  E  R  P  E  T  U  A. 

Round  the  whole  the  name  of  the  Society  and 
year  of  its  institution. 


directed  to  the  same  laudable  objects  with  those 
of  the  Cincinnati,  it  shall  be  a  rule  to  admit 
such  characters  as  Honorary  Members  of  the 
Society,  for  their  own  lives  only:  Provided 
always,  that  the  number  of  Honorary  Mem 
bers,  in  each  State,  does  not  exceed  a  ratio  of 
one  to  four  of  the  officers  or  their  descendants. 

' '  Each  State  Society  shall  obtain  a  list  of  its 
members,  and,  at  the  first  annual  meeting,  the 
State  Secretary  shall  have  engrossed,  on  parch 
ment,  two  copies  of  the  Institution  of  the  So 
ciety,  which  every  member  present,  shall  sign; 
and  the  Secretary  shall  endeavor  to  procure  the 
signature  of  every  absent  member;  one  of  those 
lists  to  be  transmitted  to  the  .Secretary-General, 
to  be  kept  in  the  archives  of  the  Society,  and 
the  other  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  State 
Secretary.  From  the  State-lists,  the  Secretary- 
General  must  make  out,  at  the  first  general 
meeting,  a  complete  list  of  the  whole  Society, 
with  a  copy  of  which  he  will  furnish  each  State 
Secretary. 


"  The  Society  shall  have  an  Order,  by  which 
its  members  shall  be  known  and  distinguished, 
which  shall  be  a  medal  of  gold,  of  a  proper 
size  to  receive  the  emblems,  and  suspended  by 
a  deep  blue  ribbon,  two  inches  wide,  edged 
with  white,  descriptive  of  the  union  of  America 
and  France,  viz: 

"  The  principal  figure 

CINCINNATUS: 

Three  Senators  presenting  him  with  a  sword 

and  other  military  ensigns — on  a  field  in 

the  back-ground,  his  wife  standing  at 

the  door  of  their  Cottage — near  it 

A    PLOUGH    AND    IMPLEMENTS  OF  HUSBANDRY. 

Round  the  whole, 

OMNIA    RELIQUIT     SERVARE     REM- 

PUBLICAM. 

On  the  reverse, 

Sun  rising — a  city  with  open  gates,  and  vessels 
entering  the  port — Fame   crowning  CIN 
CINNATUS  with  a  wreath,  inscribed 

VIRTUTIS     PREMIUM. 

Below, 

HANDS     JOINEp,     SUPPORTING     A     HE4RT, 

With  the  motto, 

ESTO     PERPETUA. 

Round  the  whole, 

SOCIETAS    CINCINNATORUM    INSTI- 
TUTA, 

A.D.   1783." 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


The  foreign  officers  who  have  served  in  the 
Army  of  the  United  States,  and  who  have  been 
honorably  dismissed  therefrom,  shall  be  entitled 
to  all  the  honors,  rights  and  privileges  of  the 
Society.  And  the  Secretary-General  must  obtain 
a  list  of  them  with  ranks  in  the  American  army. 
The  places  of  which  they  came,  together  with 
their  civil  and  military  rank  in  their  own 
country. 

And  it  shall  be  a  perpetual  rule  of  the  So 
ciety  that  the  officers  of  the  gallant  corps  of 
French  troops,  who  so  gloriously  served  in 
America  under  the  orders  of  his  Excellency 
Count  Rochambeau,  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the 
civilities  and  friendships  of  the  Society,  and  to 
render  this  as  effectual  as  possible,  the  President- 
General  will  write  to  General  Rochambeau, 
requesting  of  him  an  accurate  list  of  the  officers 
of  his  army,  with  their  civil  and  military  titles, 
and  places  of  residence,  and  as  soon  as  may  be 
the  President-General  shall  transmit  to  Count 
de  Rochambeau  a  gold  medal,  containing  the 
order  of  the  Society. 


The  Society,  deeply  -impressed  with  a  sense 
of  the  generous  assistance  this  country  has 
received  from  France,  and  desirous  of  per 
petuating  the  friendships  which  have  been 
formed,  and  so  happily  subsisted,  between  the 
officers  of  the  allied  forces,  in  the  prosecution 
of  the  war,  direct,  that  the  President-General 
transmit,  as  soon  as  may  be,  to  each  of  the 
characters  hereafter  named,  a  medal  containing 
the  Order  of  the  Society,  viz: 
His  Excellency  the  CHEVALIER  DK  LA  Lu- 

ZERNE,  Minister  Plenipotentiary, 
His  Excellency  the  SIEUR  GERARD,  late  Mi 
nister  Plenipotentiary, 
Their  Excellencies 

The  COUNT  D'EsTAiNG, 

The  COUNT  DE  GRASSE, 

The  COUNT  DE  BARRAS, 

The  CHEVALIER  DE  TOUCHES, 

Admirals  and  Commanders  in  the  Navy. 
His  Excellency  the  COUNT  DE  ROCHAMBEAU, 

Commander-in-Chief, 

And  the  Generals  and  Colonels  of  his  army, 
and  acquaint  them,  that  the  Society  do  them 
selves  the  honor  to  consider  them  as  members. 


Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  aforegoing  institution  be  given  to  the  senior  officer  of  each  State 
line,  and  that  the  officers  of  the  respective  State  lines,  sign  their  names  to  the  same,  in  manner 
and  form  following,  viz  : 

"  We,  the  subscribers,  officers  of  the  American  Army,  do  hereby  voluntarily  become  parties 
to  the  foregoing  institution,  and  do  bind  ourselves  to  observe,  and  be  governed  by  the  principles 
therein  contained.  For  the  performance  whereof  we  do  solemnly  pledge  to  each  other  our  sacred 
honor. 

DONE  IN  THE  CANTONMENT,  ON  HUDSON'S  RIVER, 
In  the  year  1783. 


20  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

That  the  members  of  the  Society,  at  the  time  of  subscribing  their  names  to 
the  Institution,  do  also  sign  a  draft  on  the  Paymaster-General,  in  the  following 
terms  (the  regiments  to  do  it  regimentally,  and  the  Generals  and  other  officers 
not  belonging  to  regiments,  each  for  himself,  individually),  viz.  : 

"  To  JOHN  PIERCE,  Esquire,  Paymaster-General  to  the  Army  of  the  United  States. 

SIR  :  Please  pay  to  Treasurer  for  the  State  Association 

of  The  Cincinnati,  or  his  order,  one  month's  pay  of  our  several  grades  respec 
tively,  and  deduct  the  same  from  the  balance  which  shall  be  found  due  to  us  on 
the  final  liquidation  of  our  accounts  ;  for  which  this  shall  be  your  warrant." 

That  the  members  of  the  several  State  Societies  assemble  as  soon  as  may  be, 
for  the  choice  of  their  President  and  other  officers  ;  and  that  the  Presidents 
correspond  together,  and  appoint  a  meeting  of  the  officers  who  may  be  chosen 
for  each  State,  in  order  to  pursue  such  further  measures  as  may  be  judged 
necessary. 

That  the  General  Officers,  and  the  officers  delegated  to  represent  the  several 
corps  of  the  army,  subscribe  to  the  Institution  of  the  General  Society,  for  them 
selves  and  their  constituents,  in  the  manner  and  form  before  prescribed. 

That  GENERAL  HEATH, 

GENERAL  BARON  DE  STEUBEN,  and 

GENERAL  KNOX, 

be  a  committee  to  wait  on  his  Excellency  the  Commander-in-Chief,  with  a  copy 
of  the  Institution,  and  request  him  to  honor  the  Society  by  placing  his  name  at 
the  head  of  it. 

That  MAJOR-GENERAL  HEATH,*  second  in  command  in  this  army,  be,  and  he 
hereby  is  desired  to  transmit  copies  of  the  Institution,  with  the  proceedings 
thereon,  to  the  commanding  officer  of  the  Southern  army,  the  senior  officer  in 
each  State,  from  Pennsylvania  to  Georgia,  inclusive,  and  to  the  commanding 
officer  of  the  Rhode  Island  line,  requesting  them  to  communicate  the  same  to 
the  officers  under  their  several  commands,  and  to  take  such  measures  as  may 
appear  to  them  necessary  for  expediting  the  establishment  of  their  State  Socie 
ties,  and  sending  a  delegation  to  represent  them  in  the  first  general  meeting  to 
be  holden  on  the  first  Monday  in  May,  17.84.  The  meeting  then  adjourned 
without  day. 

STEUBEN,  MAJOR-GENERAL,  President. 


*  It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  the  officer  thus  selected  affords  the  only  known  instance  of  a  renunciation  of 
the  Order  of  the  Cincinnati  by  one  of  its  members.— (See  Gen.  Heath's  Letter,  Appendix.) 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  21 

Cantonment  of  the  American  Army,  \qth  June,  1783. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  General  Officers,  and  the  gentlemen  delegated  by  the 
respective  regiments,  as  a  Convention  for  establishing  the  Society  of  the  Cin 
cinnati,  held  by  the  request  of  the  President,  at  which  were  present, 

Major-General  Baron  de  STEUBEN,  President, 

Major-General  HOWE, 

Major-General  KNOX, 

Brigadier-General  PATTERSON, 

Brigadier-General  HAND, 

Brigadier-General  HUNTINGTON, 

Brigadier -General  PUTNAM, 

Colonel  WEBB, 

Lieutenant-Colonel  HUNTINGTON, 

Major  PETTENGILL, 

Lieutenant  WHITING, 

Colonel  H.  JACKSON, 

Captain  SHAW, 

Lieutenant-Colonel  HULL, 

Lieutenant-Colonel  MAXWELL, 

Colonel  COURTLANDT. 

General  Baron  de  STEUBEN  acquainted  the  Convention  that  he  had,  agree 
ably  to  their  request,  at  the  last  meeting,  transmitted  to  his  Excellency  the 
Chevalier  de  la  LUZERNE,  Minister  Plenipotentiary  from  the  Court  of  France,  a 
copy  of  the  Institution  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  with  their  vote  respect 
ing  his  Excellency,  and  the  other  characters  therein  mentioned  ;  and  that  his 
Excellency  had  returned  an  answer,  declaring  his  acceptance  of  the  same,  and 
expressing  the  grateful  sense  he  entertains  of  the  honor  conferred  on  himself, 
and  the  other  gentlemen  of  the  French  nation,  by  this  act  of  the  Convention. 

Resolved,  That  the  letter  of  the  Chevalier  de  la  LUZERNE  be  recorded  in  the 
proceedings  of  this  day,  and  deposited  in  the  archives  of  the  Society,  as  a  testi 
mony  of  the  high   sense  this  Convention   entertains  of  the    honor  done  to  the 
Society  by  his  becoming  a  member  thereof. 
The  Letter  is  as  follows  : 

Philadelphie,  Ic  3  Jnin,  1783. 
"  MONSIEUR  LE  BARON, 

"  J'ai  recu  avec  beaucoup  de  reconnoissance  les  statuts  de  1'ordre  respectable  que  messieurs 
les  officiers  de  1'armee  Americaine  viennent  de  fonder :  si  le  courage,  la  patience,  et  toutes  les 
vertus  que  cette  brave  armee  a  si  souvent  deployees  dans  le  cours  de  cette  guerre,  pouvoient  jamais 
etre  oubliees,  ce  monument  seul  les  rapelleroit. 

"  J'ose  vous  assurer,  monsieur,  que  tous  les  officiers  de  ma  nation,  que  vous  avez  bien  voulu 
admettre  dans  votre  societe,  en  seront  infiniment  honores  ;  je  vous  prie  d'etre  bien  persuade  que 
je  sens,  en  mon  particulier,  bien  vivement  1'honneur  que  m'ont  fait  messieurs  les  officiers  de 
1'armee,  en  daignant  penser  a  moi  dans  cette  occasion.  Je  compte  aller  rendre  mes  devoirs  a  son 
excellence  le  General  WASHINGTON,  aussoit  que  le  traite  definitif  sera  signe,  et  j'aurai  1'honneur 
de  lui  assurer  de  vive  voix  de  ma  respectueuse  reconnoissance. 

"  Je  saisis  avec  un  grand  empressement  cette  occasion  de  vous  renouveller  les  sentiments  du 
tres  parfait  et  tres  respectueux  attachment  avec  lesquels  j'ai  1'honneur  d'etre.  Monsieur  le  Baron, 

votre  tres  humble,  et 

tres  obeissant  serviteur, 
LE  CHEVALIER  DE  LA  LUZERNE. 
Monsieur,  Monsieur  le  Baron  de  STKUKKN,  Major-General  I 
au  service  des  Etats  Unis,  au  Quartier  General,"  J" 


22  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

The  Baron  having  also  communicated  a  letter  from  Major  L'ENFANT, 
enclosing  a  design  for  the  medal  and  order,  containing  the  emblems  of  the 
Institution. 

Resolved,  That  the  bald  eagle,  carrying  the  emblems  on  its  breast,  be  estab 
lished  as  the  order  of  the  Society,  and  that  the  ideas  of  Major  L'ENFANT 
respecting  it,  and  the  manner  of  its  being  worn  by  the  members,  be  adopted. 
That  the  order  be  of  the  same  size,  and  in  every  other  respect  conformable  to 
the  said  design,  which  for  that  purpose  is  certified  by  the  Baron  de  STEUBEN, 
President  of  this  Convention,  and  to  be  deposited  in  the  archives  of  the  Society 
as  the  original,  from  which  all  copies  are  to  be  made.  Also,  that  silver  medals, 
not  exceeding  the  size  of  a  Spanish  milled  dollar,  with  the  emblems  as  designed 
by  Major  L'ENFANT,  and  certified  by  the  President,  be  given  to  each  and  every 
member  of  the  Society,  together  with  a  diploma,  on  parchment,  whereon  shall 
be  impressed  the  exact  figures  of  the  order  and  medal,  as  above  mentioned  ;  any 
thing  in  the  original  institution,  respecting  gold  medals,  to  the  contrary  not 
withstanding. 

Major  L'ENFANT'S  letter  is  as  follows  : 

"  PHILADELPHIF.,  le  10  Juin,  1783. 
"  MON  GENERAL, 

"  Aussitot  apres  la  reception  de  votre  lettre  en  date  du  20  Mai,  laquelle  ne  m'est  parvenu  que 
le  7,  ayant  etc  par  hazard  a  la  poste,  je  me  suis  occupe  des  projets  de  la  medaille.  Je  vous  envoye 
les  desseins  de  deux  faces,  que  j'ai  faits,  en  grand,  a  fin  qu'on  puisse  mieux  juger  de  1'ensemble. 
Lors  de  1'execution  on  la  reduira  a  la  grandeur  convenable  qui  pour  peur  que  Ton  exige  de  preci 
sion  dans  le  dessein,  ne  doit  pas  etre  plus  petite  qu'un  dollar,  le  sujet  se  trouvant  trop  complique 
pour  que  les  details  puissent  etre  appends  sous  une  plus  petite  dimension. 

"  Je  ne  1'ai  point  fait  ovale,  ainsi  que  vous  me  le  demandez,  vu  que  cette  forme  est  peu  propre 
a  une  medaille  ;  d'ailleurs,  on  pourra  toujours  la  faire  au  moment  de  1'execution,  si  on  persiste 
absolument  a  vouloir  porter  1'ordre  sous  cette  forme,  a  laquelle  je  crois  que  tout  autre  seroit  prefe 
rable  ;  ainsi  que  je  crois  et  espere  que  vous  en  serez  bien  persuade,  et  ferez  en  sorte  d'en  con- 
vaincre  les  personnes  qui  composent  le  comite  relatif  a  cette  institution,  auxquelles  je  vous  prie  de 
communiquer  les  observations  suivantes. 

"  La  medaille,  ronde  ou  ovale,  n'est  considered  dans  les  differents  etats  de  1'Europe  que 
comme  une  recompense  d'artiste,  d'artisant,  ou  comme  un  signe  de  communaute  de  fabriquants, 
ou  societe  religieuse — en  outre,  1'usage  abusif  que  Ton  en  fait,  particulierement  en  Allemagne  et 
en  Italic,  d'ou  il  arrive  en  France,  des  baladins,  des  musiciens,  decores  de  cette  maniere,  rend 
necessaire  de  distinguer  cet  ordre  par  une  forme  qui  lui  soit  particuliere,  et  puisse,  en  honorant 
celui  qui  en  sera  decore,  remplir  le  double  objet  de  se  faire  respecter  par  son  simple  aspect,  de 
ceux  meme  qui  en  seront  apportes  d'en  detailler  les  differentes  empreintes. 

"  Ce  n'est  pas  que  je  croye  qu'une  forme,  ou  une  autre  changera  1'opinion  d'un  peuple  repu- 
blicain  accoutume  a  penser,  mais  je  dis,  que  dans  une  institution  pareille,  le  premier  but  doit  etre 
de  se  rendre  respectable  a  tous  les  peuples  du  monde  ;  et  que  ce  n'est  qu'en  parlant  aux  yeux  qu'on 
attire  1'attention  du  vulgaire,  qu'il  ya  des  prejuges  d'habitude  qui  ne  peuvent  etre  detruits — qu'un 
homme  qualifie  et  deja  decore  en  Europe  ne  portera  pas  une  medaille,  ou,  si  flatte  de  recevoir  une 
marque  de  distinction  d'une  societe  respectable,  il  la  portoit,  ce  seroit  d'une  maniere  peu  propre  a 
faire  accrediter  la  valeur  de  1'ordre.  Qu'au  contraire,  en  lui  donnant  une  forme  nouvelle  en  parti- 
culier,  ce  sera  ajouter  a  sa  valeur  reelle,  celle  de  la  rendre  reccommendable,  en  engageant  ceux  qui 
en  seront  decores  a  en  faire  parade  cle  pair  avec  les  autres  ordres  militaires,  ce  qui  est  le  plus  sur 
moyen  de  la  mettre  d'abord  de  niveau  avec  eux. 

"  Le  bald  eagle  qui  est  particulier  a  ce  continent  et  qui  se  distingue  a  celui  des  autres  climats, 
par  sa  tete  et  sa  queue  blanches,  m'a  paru  meriter  de  1'attention, 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  23 

"  Je  vous  envoye  deux  essais  que  j'ai  faits  ;  je  desire  que  1'un  des  deux  puisse  etre  adopte  au 
lieu  et  place  de  la  medaille.  Dans  1'un,  je  fais  1'aigle  supportant  une  etoile,  a  treize  pointes,  dans 
le  centre  de  laquelle  est  renferme'e  la  figure  de  la  medaille  avec  les  inscriptions,  tant  sur  la  face  que 
sur  le  reverse.  On  pourroit  ajouter  une  legende  dans  les  serres  et  autour  du  col  de  1'aigle,  avec 
une  inscription  particuliere,.ou  bien  y  transferer  celledu  contour  de  la  medaille.  Dans  1'autre,  j'ai 
fait  1'aigle  simplement  portant  sur  sa  poitrine  la  figure  de  la  medaille,  avec  une  legende  dans  ses 
serres  et  autour  du  col,  laquelle  lui  repasse  par  derriere  le  dos  pour  soutenir  le  revers.  Je  prefere- 
rois  le  dernier,  en  ce  qu'il  n'a  rapport  a  aucun  ordre  et  porte  avec  lui  un  caractere  distinctif ,  et  ne 
seroit  pas  fort  dispendieux  a  faire  executer.  Le  premier  mene'e,  quoique  plus  complique,  ne 
reviendroit  pas  aussi  cher  qu'on  pourroit  le  penser,  toute  fois  qu'on  en  chargeroit  des  personnes 
capables  de  1'executer  :  ce  qui  ne  peut  avoir  lieu  non  plus  que  re'lativement  a  la  medaille  qu'en 
1'envoyant  en  Europe,  ce  qui  n'exigeroit  pas  beaucoup  de  terns,  et  ne  seroit  pas  si  dispendieux,  que 
d'en  confier  1'execution  a  des  personnes  incapables. 

' '  Une  medaille  est  un  monument  qui  passe  a  la  posterite  ;  et  par  consequent  il  est  necessaire 
qu'elle  soit  porte'e  au  degre  de  perfection  possible  dansle  siecle  ou  elle  est  frappee.  Or,  bien  frap- 
per  une  medaille  est  une  chose  qui  demande  de  1'habitude  et  un  bon  coin,  or  il  n'y  a  ici  ni 
balancier  propre  a  cette  besogne  ni  gens  capables  de  faire  un  bon  coin,  je  me  chargerois  volontiers 
de  recommender  1'execution  de  la  medaille,  de  1'aigle  ou  ordre,  a  gens  capables  de  1'executer 
a  Paris. 

' '  Bien  loin  que  je  propose  de  changer  la  medaille  ovale  en  un  aigle  sur  lequel  seroit  empreint 
cette  medaille,  je  ne  pretends  pas  dire  qu'ils  ne  scavent  pas  frapper  des  medailles.  Au  contraire, 
voici  quelle  est  mon  idee  a  ce  sujet . 

"  On  pourroit  faire  frapper  ici  des  medailles  d'argent  aux  frais  communs  de  la  societe,  et  en 
distribuer  une  a  chacun  de  ses  membres,  comme  un  titre  adapte  a  la  patente  de  parchemin,  sur 
laquelle  il  sera  aussi  a  propos  de  graver  la  figure  de  la  medaille,  la  forme  de  1'aigle  ou  de  1'e'toile, 
avec  sa  plus  grande  dimension,  detaillant  les  couleurs,  en  soignant  de  s'y  conformer,  laissant  la 
liberte  aux  chevaliers  qui  s'en  pourvoyeront  a  leurs  depens,  de  la  faire  de  tel  metal,  et  aussi  petite 
que  possible,  sans  alteration  d'aucun  des  emblemes.  II  ne  me  parroit  pas  non  plus  a  propos  que 
les  chevaliers  honoraires  portassent  1'ordre  pareille  aux  chevaliers  de  droit.  II  faudroit  qu'on 
signifiat  qu'ils  portassent  la  medaille,  ou  1'etoile,  ou  1'aigle  en  sautoir,  et  les  chevaliers  a  la  3me 
bouttoniere. 

"  Mon  General,  ce  sont  les  remarques  que  je  vous  prie  de  faire  traduire,  et  de  les  soumettre 
a  1'opinion  general.  Je  vous  serois  oblige  de  me  faire  savoir  quelle  issue  cette  lettre  aura,  et  quelle 
sera  la  decision  qu'on  en  donnera. 

J'ai,  &C.,  &C.,  L'ENFANT. 

"  N.  B.  La  tete  et  la  queue  de  1'aigle  seroient  d'argent  ou  einaillees  en  blanc,  le  corps  et  les 
ailes  d'or,  la  medailie  sur  sa  poitrine  et  sur  son  dos,  emaillee  en  couleur  de  meme  que  la  legende. 
On  pourroit  y  ajouter  des  branches  de  laurier  et  de  chene  dans  les  ailes,  pour  lors  qu'on  e'mailleroit 
en  verd  ;  1'etoile  du  medaillon  seroit  pointee  en  or,  ou  emaillee  bleu  et  blanc,  ceux  qui  voudroient 
faire  le  de'pense  pourroient  avoir  en  diamant  tout  ce  qui  est  blanc.  Le  ruban  seroit  moire  comme 
celui  de  tous  les  autres  ordres." 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Convention  be  transmitted,  by  the  President, 
to  Major  L'ENFANT,  for  his  care  and  ingenuity  in  preparing  the  afore-mentioned 
designs,  and  that  he  be  acquainted  that  they  cheerfully  embrace  his  offer  of 
assistance,  and  request  a  continuance  of  his  attention  in  carrying  the  designs  into 
execution,  for  which  purpose  the  President  is  desired  to  correspond  with  him. 

Resolved,  That  his  Excellency  the  Commander-in-Chief  be  requested  to  offi 
ciate  as  President-General,  until  the  first  general  meeting,  to  be  held  in 
May  next. 

That  a  Treasurer-General,  and  a  Secretary-General  be  ballotted  for,  to  offi 
ciate  in  like  manner. 


24  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

The  ballots  being  taken,  Major-General  M'DOUGALL  was  elected  Treasurer- 
General,  and  Major-General  KNOX  Secretary-General,  who  are  hereby  requested 
to  accept  said  appointments. 

Resolved,  That  all  the  proceedings  of  this  Convention,  including  the  Institu 
tion  of  the  Society,  be  recorded  (from  the  original  papers  in  his  possession)  by 
Captain  SHAW,  who  at  the  first  meeting  was  requested  to  act  as  Secretary,  and 
that  the  same,  signed  by  the  President's  Secretary,  together  with  the  original 
papers,  be  given  into  the  hands  of  Major-General  KNOX,  Secretary-General  to 
the  Society  ;  and  that  Captain  NORTH,  aid-de-camp  to  the  Baron  de  STEUBEN, 
and  acting  Secretary  to  him  as  President,  sign  the  said  records. 

The  dissolution  of  a  very  considerable  part  of  the  army,  since  the  last  meeting 
of  this  Convention,  having  rendered  the  attendance  of  some  of  its  members 
impracticable,  and  the  necessity  for  some  temporary  arrangements,  previous  to 
the  first  meeting  of  the  General  Society,  being  so  strikingly  obvious,  the  Conven 
tion  found  itself  constrained  to  make  those  before  mentioned,  which  they  have 
done  with  the  utmost  diffidence  of  themselves,  and  relying  entirely  on  the 
candor  of  their  Constituents  to  make  allowance  for  the  measure.  The  principal 
objects  of  its  appointment  being  thus  accomplished,  the  members  of  this  Con 
vention  think  fit  to  dissolve  the  same,  and  it  is  hereby  dissolved  accordingly. 

True  copy  from  the  records  of  the  Society. 

W.   NORTH,  Secretary  to  the  President. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  27 


GENERAL  MEETINGS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  HAVE  BEEN  HELD  AS 

FOLLOWS: 

1784.  May,  at  Philadelphia. — All  of  the  13  State  Societies  represented. 

1787.  May,  Philadelphia. — Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  New  York,  Con 
necticut,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Virginia,  North  Caro 
lina  and  South  Carolina  (10  State  Societies)  represented. 

1788.*  May,  Philadelphia. — Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl 
vania  and  Delaware  (5  State  Societies)  represented — one  delegate 
from  New  York  in  attendance — the  appointment  stating  that  two  were 
to  constitute  a  representation. 

1790.  May,  Philadelphia. — Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jer 
sey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  North  Carolina  and  Georgia  (8  State 
Societies)  represented. 

1791.*  May,  Philadelphia. — Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia  (9 
State  Societies)  represented. 

1793.  May,  Philadelphia. — Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  Pennsyl 
vania,  New  Jersey,  Maryland  and  South  Carolina  (7  State  Societies) 
represented. 

1796.  May,  Philadelphia. — Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl 
vania,  South  Carolina  (5  State  Societies)  represented. 

1799.  ^ay>  Philadelphia. — New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  (2  State  Societies) 
represented. 

1800.*  May,  Philadelphia. — Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  South  Carolina  (8 
State  Societies)  represented. 

1802.  May,  Washington. — Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  (6  State  Societies)  represented. 

1805.  May,  Philadelphia. — Rhode  Island,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl 
vania,  South  Carolina  (5  State  Societies)  represented. 

1808.  (Minutes  missing.) 

1811.  July,  Philadelphia.— New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  South  Carolina  (3 
State  Societies)  represented.  This  meeting  adjourned  to  August, 
1811,  when  the  same  three  State  Societies  were  represented. 

1812.*  September,  Philadelphia. — New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  South 
Carolina  (4  State  Societies)  represented.  Adjourned  to  September 
29,  when  only  three  State  Societies  were  represented.! 

1825.  November,  Philadelphia. — Rhode  Island,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Penn 
sylvania  and  South  Carolina  (5  State  Societies)  represented. 

*  Extra,  or  adjourned  meetings. 

t  No  official  minutes  of  the  meeting  in  1812  have  been  found,  but  letters  and  memoranda  in 
some  of  the  State  Society  archives  give  the  information  here  stated.  There  are  no  minutes  and 
no  known  information  as  to  any  meeting  from  1812  to  1825. 


28  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

1829.  November,  Philadelphia. — Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Penn 
sylvania  and  South  Carolina  (5  State  Societies)  represented. 

1832.  May,  Philadelphia.— New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  (2   State    Societies) 
represented. 

1835.  May,  Philadelphia. — Pennsylvania  (i  State  Society)  represented. 

1838.  May,  Philadelphia. — Pennsylvania  (i  State  Society)  represented. 

1839.*  November,  Philadelphia. — Pennsylvania  (i  State  Society)  represented. 

1844.  November,  Philadelphia. — Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania  (4  State  Societies)  represented. 

1848.  November,  Philadelphia. — Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania  (4  State  Societies)  represented. 

1851.  November,  New  York. — Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania  (4  State  Societies)  represented. 

1854.  May,  Baltimore. — Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  South  Carolina  (6  State  Societies)  represented. 

1855.1  February,  Charleston. — Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Penn 
sylvania,  Maryland,  South  Carolina  (6  State  Societies)  represented. 

1856.1  May,  Trenton. — Massachusetts,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland 
and  South  Carolina  (5  State  Societies)  represented. 

1857.  May,  Boston. — Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland  (5  State  Societies)  represented. 

1860.  May,  Philadelphia. — Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl 
vania  and  Maryland  (5  State  Societies)  represented. 

1863.  May,  New  York.— Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsyl 
vania  (4  State  Societies)  represented. 

1866.  May,  Trenton. — Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania 
and  Maryland  (5  State  Societies)  represented. 

1869.  May,  Baltimore. — Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  South  Carolina  (6  State  Societies)  represented. 

1872.  May,  Boston. — Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  South  Carolina  (6  State  Societies)  represented. 

1875.  May,  New  York. — Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  South  Carolina  (6  State  Societies)  represented. 

1878.  May,  Philadelphia. — Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl 
vania  and  South  Carolina  (5  State  Societies)  represented. 

1881.  April,  Charleston. — Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl 
vania,  Maryland,  South  Carolina  and  Rhode  Island  (7  State  Societies) 
represented. 


A  special,  called  meeting, 
f  Adjourned  meetings. 


EXTRACTS 


THE  PROCEEDINGS 


GENERAL  MEETINGS, 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


PROPOSED  AMENDED  INSTITUTION. 


1784,  MAY. 


The  first  General  Meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  in  Philadelphia.  On  the  second  day  of 
the  Meeting  it  was  resolved  to  take  into  consideration  "  the  Institution  of  the  Society."  The 
subject  was  considered  by  Special  Committees  and  in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  and  engaged  the 
attention  of  the  Meeting  from  day  to  day  until  May  I3th,  when 

The  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Five  on  the  Amendment  of  the  Institution 
was  next  taken  up  and  debated,  paragraph  by  paragraph.  Several  alterations 
and  amendments  being  made  therein,  the  following  was  agreed  to  as  the  Insti 
tution  by  which  the  Society  shall  in  future  be  governed,  viz.: 

THE  INSTITUTION   OF   THE   SOCIETY  OF  THE  CINCINNATI  AS  ALTERED  AND 
AMENDED  AT  THEIR  FIRST  GENERAL  MEETING. 

"  It  having  pleased  the  Supreme  Governor  of  the  Universe  to  give  success 
to  the  arms  of  our  country,  and  to  establish  the  United  States  free  and  inde 
pendent  :  Therefore,  gratefully  to  commemorate  this  event ;  to  inculcate  to  the 
latest  ages  the  duty  of  laying  down  in  peace,  arms  assumed  for  public  defence, 
by  forming  an  Institution  which  recognizes  that  most  important  principle  ;  to 
continue  the  mutual  friendships  which  commenced  under  the  pressure  of  com 
mon  danger ;  and  to  effectuate  the  acts  of  beneficence,  dictated  by  the  spirit  of 
brotherly  kindness  towards  those  officers  and  their  families,  who  unfortunately 
may  be  under  the  necessity  of  receiving  them ;  the  officers  of  the  American 
Army  do  hereby  constitute  themselves  into  a  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  :  and  pos 
sessing  the  highest  veneration  for  the  character  of  that  illustrious  Roman, 
Lucius  QUINTIUS  CINCINNATUS,  denominate  themselves  the  SOCIETY  OF 
THE  CINCINNATI. 

SEC.  i.  The  persons  who  constitute  this  Society  are  all  the  commissioned 
and  brevet  officers  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States,  who  have  served 
three  years,  and  who  left  the  service  with  reputation  ;  all  officers  who  were  in 
actual  service  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war ;  all  the  principal  Staff  Officers  of 
the  Continental  Army  ;  and  the  officers  who  have  been  deranged  by  the  several 
resolutions  of  Congress,  upon  the  different  reforms  of  the  army. 

SEC.  2.  There  are  also  admitted  into  this  Society,  the  late  and  present  Min 
isters  of  his  Most  Christian  Majesty  to  the  United  States  ;  all  the  Generals  and 
Colonels  of  regiments  and  legions  of  the  land  forces ;  all  the  Admirals  and 
Captains  of  the  Navy,  ranking  as  Colonels,  who  have  co-operated  with  the 
armies  of  the  United  States,  in  their  exertions  for  liberty ;  and  such  other  per 
sons  as  have  been  admitted  by  the  respective  State  meetings. 

SEC.  3.  The  Society  shall  have  a  President,  Vice-President,  Secretary,  and 
Assistant  Secretary. 


32  THK    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

SEC.  4.  There  shall  be  a  meeting  of  the  Society,  at  least  once  in  three  years, 
on  the  first  Monday  in  May,  at  such  place  as  the  President  shall  appoint. 

The  said  meeting  shall  consist  of  the  aforesaid  officers  (whose  expenses  shall 
be  equally  borne  by  the  State  funds)  and  a  representation  from  each  State. 

The  business  of  this  general  meeting  shall  be,  to  regulate  the  distribution  of 
surplus  funds  ;  to  appoint  officers  for  the  ensuing  term  ;  and  to  conform  the 
by-laws  of  the  State  meetings  to  the  general  objects  of  the  Institution. 

SEC.  5.  The  Society  shall  be  divided  into  State  meetings;  each  meeting 
shall  have  a  President,  Vice-President,  Secretary,  and  Treasurer,  respectively ; 
to  be  chosen  by  a  majority  of  votes  annually. 

SEC.  6.  The  State  meetings  shall  be  on  the  Anniversary  of  Independence. 
They  shall  concert  such  measures  as  may  conduce  to  the  benevolent  purposes 
of  the  Society ;  and  the  several  State  meetings  shall,  at  suitable  periods,  make 
applications  to  their  respective  legislatures  for  grants  of  charters. 

SEC.  7.  Any  member  removing  from  one  State  to  another  is  to  be  consid 
ered,  in  all  respects,  as  belonging  to  the  meeting  of  the  State  in  which  he  shall 
actually  reside. 

SEC.  8.  The  State  meeting  shall  judge  of  the  qualification  of  its  members, 
admonish,  and  (if  necessary)  expel  any  one  who  may  conduct  himself 
unworthily. 

SEC.  9.  The  Secretary  of  each  State  meeting  shall  register  the  names  of 
the  members  resident  in  each  State,  and  transmit  a  copy  thereof  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Society. 

SEC.  10.  In  order  to  form  funds  for  the  relief  of  unfortunate  members,  their 
their  widows  and  orphans,  each  officer  shall  deliver  to  the  Treasurer  of  the 
State  meeting  one-month's  pay. 

SEC.  n.  No  donations  shall  be  received,  but  from  citizens  of  the  United 
States. 

SEC.  12.  The  funds  of  each  State  meeting  shall  be  loaned  to  the  State  by 
permission  of  the  legislature,  and  the  interest  only,  annually  to  be  applied  for 
the  purposes  of  the  Society ;  and  if,  in  process  of  time,  difficulties  should  occur 
in  executing  the  intentions  of  the  Society,  the  legislatures  of  the  several  States 
shall  be  requested  to  make  such  equitable  dispositions  as  may  be  most  cor 
respondent  with  the  original  design  of  the  Institution. 

SEC.  13.  The  subjects  of  his  Most  Christian  Majesty,  members  of  this 
Society,  may  hold  meetings  at  their  pleasure,  and  form  regulations  for  their 
police,  conformably  to  the  objects  of  the  Institution,  and  to  the  spirit  of  their 
government. 

SEC.  14.  The  Society  shall  have  an  order ;  which  shall  be  a  bald  eagle  of 
gold,  bearing  on  its  breast  the  emblems  hereafter  described,  suspended  by  a 
deep  blue  ribbon  edged  with  white,  descriptive  of  the  union  of  America  and 
France. 

"  The  principal  figure,  Cincinnatus  ;  three  Senators  presenting  him  with  a 
sword  and  other  military  ensigns.  On  a  field,  in  the  background,  his  wife 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  33 

standing  at  the  door  of  their  cottage  :  near  it  a  plough  and  other  implements  of 
husbandry.  Round  the  whole,  omnia  reliquit  servare  rempublicam.  On  the 
reverse,  sun  rising  ;  a  city  with  open  gates,  and  vessels  entering  the  port ;  Fame 
crowning  Cincinnatus  with  a  wreath,  inscribed  virtutis prcemium.  Below,  hands 
joined,  supporting  a  heart,  with  the  motto,  esto  perpetua.  Round  the  whole, 
Societas  Cincinnatorum  Instituta,  A.D.  1783." 

SEC.  15.  A  silver  medal,  representing  the  emblems,  to  be  given  to  each 
member  of  the  Society  ;  together  with  a  diploma  on  parchment,  whereon  shall 
be  impressed  the  figures  of  the  order  and  medal,  as  above  mentioned. 

This  proposed  Institution  was  ordered  to  be  forwarded  to  each  State  meeting,  and  to  the 
meeting  in  France,  accompanied  by  a  Circular  Letter,  which  said  that  they 

"  had  thought  proper  to  recommend  that  the  enclosed  '  Institution  of  the  Society 
"  of  the  Cincinnati,  as  altered  and  amended  at  their  first  meeting,'  should  be 
"  adopted  by  your  State  Society." 

Then,  referring  to  a  popular  misapprehension  of  the  objects  of  the  Society,  the  letter  pro 
ceeds  : 

"  Therefore,  to  remove  every  cause  of  inquietude  ;  to  annihilate  every  source 
of  jealousy  ;  to  designate  explicitly  the  ground  on  which  we  wish  to  stand,  and 
give  one  more  proof  that  the  officers  of  the  American  Army  have  a  claim  to  be 
reckoned  among  the  most  faithful  citizens,  we  have  agreed  that  the  following 
material  alterations  and  amendments  should  take  place  : 

"  That  the  hereditary  succession  should  be  abolished  ;  that  all  interference 
with  political  rights  should  be  done  away ;  and  that  the  funds  should  be  placed 
under  the  immediate  cognizance  of  the  several  legislatures,  who  should  also  be 
requested  to  grant  charters  for  more  effectually  carrying  our  humane  designs 
into  execution. 

******** 
And  we  appeal   to  your  liberality     *     *     *     *    for  the  ratification  of  our  pro 
ceedings,"* 

1784,  MAY  i8.f 

Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  respective  State  meetings  to  pro 
cure,  as  soon  as  convenient,  two  engrossed  copies  on  parchment  of  the  Institu 
tion,  as  altered  and  amended  by  this  General  Meeting,  which  shall  be  signed  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  original  Institution  was  directed  to  be  done  ;  one  of 
which  copies  to  be  delivered  to  the  Secretary  or  the  Assistant  Secretary,  to  be 
kept  among  the  records  of  the  General  Society ;  the  other  to  be  retained  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  State  meeting. 


-~    L^iMbv,;;,    »»vlt      ucl-ldlCU      IU      UC          clUllllllCU  JlllU      LIJC      OUUJCLy    <*3    in  v,  ill  L*«-»  J,    t»t« 

was  abolished:   so  that  the  French  officers  were  to  be  admitted  only  as  members  for  life 


remained  as  it  was  originally  proposed  and  adopted  in  1783 


34  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

1787,  May  7. 

The  Society  met  again  in  General  Meeting.  The  proposed  Amended  Institution  not  hav 
ing  received  the  ratification  of  the  State  Societies,  on  the  I7th  May  the  following  preamble 
and  resolution  were  presented,  viz. : 

Whereas,  several  of  the  State  Societies  of  the  Cincinnati  have  not  agreed  to 
the  alterations  in  the  Institution  proposed  at  the  last  General  Meeting  ;  and 
whereas,  these  alterations  cannot  take  effect  until  they  have  been  agreed  to  by  ALL  the 
State  Societies  ;  and  whereas,  it  appears  to  be  the  general  sense  of  the  said 
Societies  that  some  alteration  in  the  Institution  ought  to  be  made  ;  and  whereas, 
in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  such  alterations  as  may  be  necessary  cannot  con 
veniently  and  effectually  be  made  but  at  a  General  Meeting  of  the  Society  of 
the  Cincinnati,  specially  authorized  to  agree  upon,  and  finally  establish  the 
same.  Therefore 

Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  several  State  Societies  to  empower 
their  Delegates  at  the  next  General  Meeting,  to  agree  upon  and  finally  establish 
all  such  alterations  as  may  be  necessary  in  the  Constitution  of  the  Society. 

On  the  following  day  (May  18)  the  Resolution  (without  the  preamble)  was  adopted. 

1788,  May  8. 

An  extra  Session  having  been  convened,  only  five  States  were  represented.  The  Delegates 
present  prepared  and  signed  a  Circular  Letter  which  was  transmitted  to  the  several  State 
Societies,  in  which  they  say  : 

"  We  hope  that  the  establishing  a  permanent  Constitution,  which  requires 
"  an  unanimous  vote  of  the  representatives  of  all  the  State  Societies,  will  excite 
"  in  each  an  emulation  to  have  its  delegates  on  the  floor  among  the  foremost." 

1790,  May. 

At  a  General  Meeting  on  May  4,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to,  and  strongly  enjoined  upon  the 
several  State  Societies,  to  empower  their  delegates  at  the  next  General  Meeting 
to  agree  upon  and  finally  establish  all  such  alterations  as  may  be  thought  neces 
sary  in  the  Constitution,  and  to  adopt  and  carry  into  execution  such  measures 
as  may  conduce  to  the  security  of  the  funds,  and  to  the  promotion  of  the  gene 
ral  interests  of  the  Society. 

1791,  May. 

An  extra  General  Meeting  was  held  May  1791,  at  which  seven  State  Societies,  a  majority 
of  the  whole,  were  represented.  It  was 

Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  extra  General  Meeting,  the  present 
representation  of  the  several  State  Societies  is  not  sufficient  to  make  and  finally 
establish  such  alterations  as  may  be  thought  necessary  in  the  Constitution  of 
the  Cincinnati,  conformably  to  the  resolution  and  recommendation  of  the  Gene 
ral  Meeting  of  the  4th  of  May,  1790. 

Resolved  unanimously,  That  the  several  State  Societies  be  strongly  enjoined 
to  send  forward  a  full  representation  to  the  next  triennial  General  Meeting,  to 
be  held  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  first  Monday  in  May,  1793,  fully  em 
powered  to  agree  upon,  and  finally  establish  all  such  alterations  as  may  be 
thought  necessary  in  the  General  Constitution  of  the  Cincinnati. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  35 

Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  State  Societies  to  resolve  that 
any  amendments  or  alterations  in  the  Institution  of  the  Society  of  the  Cin 
cinnati,  which  may  be  concurred  in  by  the  representatives  of  nine  State 
Societies,  in  the  next  General  Meeting,  shall  be  obligatory  upon  them,  and 
inviolably  observed  by  every  State  Society,  although  not  therein  represented  ; 
and  to  transmit  such  resolve  duly  authenticated  to  the  Secretary-General. 

1793,  May  6. 

The  fourth  triennial  meeting,  convened  in  Philadelphia,  May  6,  1793.  Seven  State  Societies 
were  represented  Upon  examining  the  proceedings  of  the  several  State  Societies,  which  had 
been  transmitted  to  the  Secretary-General,  it  appearing  that  only  five  State  Societies  had 
signified  their  assent  to  the  recommendation  of  the  extra  General  Meeting  of  the  4th  May,  1791, 
"  that  the  representation  of  nine  State  Societies  should  be  authorized  to  alter  and  amend  the 
Institution  of  the  Cincinnati,  &c.,"  it  was 

Unanimously  Resolved — 

That  the  several  State  Societies  of  the  Cincinnati  be  again  strongly  enjoined 
to  send  forward  a  full  representation  to  the  next  triennial  General  Meeting,  to 
be  held  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  first  Monday  of  May,  1796,  fully 
empowered  to  agree  upon  and  finally  establish  all  such  alterations  as  may  be 
thought  necessary  in  the  General  Constitution  of  the  Cincinnati. 

That  it  be  recommended  to  the  State  Societies  to  resolve  that  any  amend 
ments  or  alterations  in  the  Institution  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  which 
may  be  concurred  in  by  the  representatives  of  seven*  State  Societies  in  the  next 
General  Meeting,  shall  be  obligatory  upon  them,  and  inviolably  observed  by  every 
State  Society,  although  not  therein  represented,  and  to  transmit  such  resolve, 
duly  authenticated,  to  the  Secretary-General. 

1796,  May  2. 

Triennial  General  Meeting,  only  five  State  Societies  were  represented.  The  delegates  in 
attendance  addressed  a  Circular  Letter  to  the  several  State  Societies,  dated  May  6,  1796,  in 
which  they  say  : 

"  *  *  *  The  proposed  alteration  of  the  Constitution,  which  was  deemed 
"  of  sufficient  importance  to  have  claimed  the  immediate  and  animated  atten- 
"  tion  of  every  State  Society,  has  shared  the  fate  of  other  propositions,  and 
"  remains  yet  undetermined.  *  *  *  *  They  recommend  that  every  exertion 
"  be  made  toward  completing  the  State  representations  in  the  next  triennial 
"  General  Meeting  ;  and  to  guard  against  the  consequences  of  any  failure 
"  therein,  it  is  requested  that  the  several  State  Societies  would,  in  the  inter- 
"  mediate  time,  transmit  their  resolutions,  relative  to  the  requisition  of  1793, 
"  to  the  Secretary-General." 

1799,  MAY  6. 

At  the  General  Triennial  Meeting  only  two  State  Societies  were  represented. 
Adjourned,  to  meet  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia  on  the  first  Monday  in  May  next. 


*  In  1791,  it  was  proposed  that  concurrence  of  the  representatives  of  nine  State  Societies  should  be  necessary. 


36  THE  SOCIETY  OF  THE  CINCINNATI. 

1800,  MAY  5. 

An  adjourned  General  Meeting  was  held,  eight  State  Societies  being  represented. 
A  Committee  was  appointed  to  examine  the   Records  of  the   Society,  and  report    to  this 
Meeting  the  state  of  the  Institution. 

This  Committee  reported  as  follows  : 

The  Committee  appointed  to  examine  the  records  of  the  Society,  and  to 
report  to  this  meeting  the  state  of  the  Institution  in  relation  to  the  alteration  of 
the  Constitution,  which  was  proposed  by  the  General  Meeting  held  in  the  City 
of  Philadelphia  in  the  year  1784,  beg  leave  to  report, 

That  on  inspecting  the  documents  in  the  possession  of  the  Secretary-General 
they  do  not  find  that  any  additional  communications  have  been  made  from  the 
several  State  Societies,  since  the  Circular  Letter  from  the  General  Meeting  of 
1796,  on  the  subject  of  the  proposed  alteration  above  referred  to. 

From  the  silence  which  the  State  Societies  have  observed,  after  the  pressing 
Circular  Letters  of  the  General  Meeting,  your  Committee  are  led  to  conclude 
that  they  do  not  accede  to  the  proposed  reform;  and  your  Committee  conceive 
therefrom  that  they  are  authorized  to  report  to  the  General  Meeting — 

That  the  Institution  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  remains  as  it  was 
originally  proposed  and  adopted  by  the  officers  of  the  American  Army,  at  their 
Cantonments  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  River,  in  1783. 

JOSEPH  BLOOMFIELD,    \ 

ENOS  HITCHCOCK,        \  Committee. 

EBEN.  HUNTINGTON,  ) 


May  7th,  1800. 

Which  report,  on  motion  of  General  SMITH,  seconded  by  Colonel  LAWRENCE, 
was  unanimously  adopted. 

It  was  moved  by  Major  PINCKNEY,  seconded  by  General  HOWARD, 
That  a  majority  of  the  State  Societies,  which  shall  convene  in  General  Meet 
ing,  is  competent  to  recommend  alterations  in  the  Constitution,  which  alterations 
being  afterwards  assented  to  by  seven  State  Societies,  shall  be  binding  on  all 
the  State  Societies  :  Provided,  the  consent  to  such  alterations  be  reported  by 
the  Societies  agreeing  to  the  same,  to  the  next  General  Meeting. 

The    ayes   and    noes  on    the  foregoing  resolutions  being   taken  by  State 
Societies,  are  as  follows  : 

Massachusetts,  No. 

Rhode  Island,  No. 

Connecticut,  No. 

New  York,  No. 

New  Jersey,  No. 

Pennsylvania,  No. 

Maryland,  Divided. 

South  Carolina.  Divided. 

So  it  passed  in  the  negative. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  37 

1825,  Nov.  2. 

A  Committee  having  been  appointed  to  inquire  and  report  whether  any  and  what  alterations 
in  the  Constitution  are  expedient,*  reported  the  following,  to  be  in  force  as  soon  as  adopted  by 
all  the  State  Societies  in  existence,  and  due  notice  thereof  accordingly  given  by  each  respective 
Society  to  the  Secretary  or  Assistant  Secretary-General,  as  the  case  may  be. 

ist  AMENDMENT.  That  whenever  a  vacancy  shall  happen  in  regard  to  any 
of  the  officers  of  the  General  Society,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary- 
General,  or  in  case  it  should  have  happened  to  him,  of  the  Assistant  Secretary- 
General,  to  give  notice  accordingly  to  the  President  of  each  State  Society,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be,  at  their  next  anniversary  meeting,  to  ballot  for  some  suitable 
person  to  supply  such  vacancy;  whose  name  shall  be  transmitted  to  such  Secre 
tary  or  Assistant  Secretary-General,  as  the  case  may  be,  who  shall  thereupon 
count  up  the  votes;  and  the  person  who  shall  have  a  plurality  of  votes  shall  suc 
ceed  to  such  vacancy;  and  in  case  of  an  equality  of  votes,  the  one  of  them  who 
may  be  senior  in  age  shall  be  such  successor. 

2d  AMENDMENT.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  officers  of  the  General  Society 
to  meet  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  first  Monday  in  May,  at  least  once  in 
every  three  years,  according  to  their  own  appointment,  or  on  notice  from  the 
President-General;  and  they,  or  as  many  as  shall  convene,  shall  be  a  Board, 
under  such  rules  as  they  may  prescribe,  to  transact  such  business  as  might  be 
transacted  at  a  Meeting  of  the  General  Society,  and  to  call  such  meetings  as 
often  as  the  exigencies  of  the  Society  may  seem  to  require. 


*  The  minutes  do  not  show  that  the  meeting  took  action  on  the  report,  and  it  is  not  known   that  these  pro 
posed  amendments  were  considered  by  any  of  the  State  Societies.     It  is  certain  they  were  not  adopted. 


38  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


MEMBERSHIP  OF  FRENCH  OFFICERS. 

1784,  MAY  15. 

Resolved,  That  the  officers  of  his  Most  Sacred  Majesty's  Army  and  Navy, 
who  have  served  in  America,  and  who  were  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Colonel 
for  special  services,  are  comprehended  in  the  Institution  of  the  Cincinnati,  as 
altered  and  amended.* 

1784,  MAY  17. 

Resolved,  That  Monsieur  de  Tarle,  Intendent  and  Second  Officer  of  the 
French  Auxiliary  Army,  and  *  *  *  *  (naming  several  French  officers), 
*  *  are  entitled  by  the  spirit  and  intention  of  the  Institution  to  become  Mem 
bers  of  the  Cincinnati. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  General  Meeting  that  Lieutenant 
Colonel  de  Bouchet  is  entitled,  from  his  services,  to  be  admitted  a  member  of 
the  Cincinnati,  and  he  is  admitted  accordingly. 

1787,  MAY  17. 

A  Committee  for  devising  a  mode  for  furnishing  Diplomas  to  the  "Foreign  Members  of 
the  Society." 

Reported  (inter  alia)  "  that  as  soon  as  the  said  Secretary  shall  receive  the 
the  names  of  the  said  Foreign  Members,  he  cause  the  same  to  be  inserted  in 
the  number  of  Diplomas  necessary,  which  shall  be  completed  with  the  signatures 
of  the  President  and  the  said  Secretary. 

That  the  Secretary  transmit  those  designed  for  the  Marine  Officers  of  France 
to  the  Count  D'Estaing,  and  those  for  the  land  officers  to  the  Count  de  Rocham- 
beau,  senior  officers,  &c.,  &c.  That  the  Diplomas  for  the  Foreign  officers  who 
served  in  the  armies  of  the  United  States  be  transmitted  to  the  Marquis  de  la 
Fayette. 

The  report  was  agreed  to. 

A  preamble  referring  to  "  the  brilliant  military  services  of  his  Excellency  the  Marquis  de  f 
Bouille,  late  Governor  of  Martinico  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  his  Most  Christian  Majesty's  land 
forces  in  the  West  Indies,  was  adopted,  and  it  was 

Resolved,  that  the  President-General  transmit  instructions  to  the  President 
or  Senior  officer  of  the  Society  in  France  to  offer  to,  and  invest  the  Marquis  de 
Bouille  with  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati. 

1787,  MAY  18. 

Resolved,  nem.  con.,  That  the  right  of  admitting  foreign  officers  (except  such 
as  are  under  the  first  and  second  sections  of  the  General  Rules) \  is  vested  in 
the  General  Meeting,  and  they  are  sole  judges  of  such  admissions. 

*  The  Institution,  as  "altered  and  amended,  "recognized  no  succession  of  membership.  So  far,  therefore, 
as  this  and  other  resolutions  of  the  General  Meetings  of  1784,  1787-1790,  adopted  in  conformity  with  the  proposed 
Institution,  confer  any  right  of  membership,  such  right  was  only  for  the  life  of  the  party.  The  parties  named 
made  no  contribution  to  the  funds,  and  were  not  required  to  sign  the  Rolls,  as  did  the  officers  of  the  American 
Army,  and  as  is  required  by  the  Institution. 

t    This  gentleman  did  not  serve  in  the  United  States. 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  THE  CINCINNATI.  39 

1790,  MAY  4. 

Resolved,  That  all  claims  of  French  gentlemen  now  before  the  General 
Meeting  for  admissions  as  members  be  referred  to  the  Count  d'Estaing,  the 
Count  de  Rochambeau  and  the  Marquis  de  la  Fayette. 

That  the  Secretary-General  write  a  letter  to  the  said  gentlemen  and  inform 
them  that  the  General  Meeting  confide  the  honour  of  the  Society  to  their 
keeping  as  it  respects  the  said  claims  ;  trusting  that  they  will  decide  thereon 
according  to  the  principles  of  the  Institution  and  the  spirit  of  the  French  Gov 
ernment. 

That  on  one  or  more  of  the  said  gentlemen  duly  certifying  under  his  or 
their  hands  and  seals,  that  any  of  the  persons  whose  claims  are  now  referred, 
have  passed  the  necessary  investigations  and  approbation  in  France,  the  Secre 
tary-General  will  transmit  the  diplomas  accordingly. 

1791,  MAY  4. 

Resolved,  That  the  applications  of  all  French  gentlemen  on  the  files  of  the 
General  Meeting,  for  admission  as  members  of  the  Cincinnati,  be  referred  to 
the  Count  d'Estaing,  Count  de  Rochambeau,  or  the  Marquis  de  la  Fayette 
agreeably  to  the  resolve  of  the  4th  of  May,  1790. 

1829,  MAY  5. 

Resolved,  That  upon  application  of  foreign  officers,  members*  of  the  Society, 
diplomas  are  to  be  issued  by  the  Secretary-General,  under  the  direction  of  the 
President-General. 

1860,  MAY  2. 

M.  le  Comte  Maurice  du  Pare  applied  to  be  received  a  member  in  right  of  his  uncle,  the  Count 
du  Pare  Coatrescar,  one  of  the  French  officers  of  the  rank  of  Colonel,  whom  the  Society  consid 
ered  as  member. 

Resolved,  That  a  respectful  answer  be  made  by  the  Secretary-General  to  M. 
du  Pare,  stating  that  the  applicant  is  not,  according  to  the  Institution  of  the 
Society,  entitled  to  membership. 


*  Many  foreign  officers  held  commissions  in  the  American  Army,  and  as  such  were  entitled  to  be  members  of 
the  Society  under  the  Institution. 


40  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


MANNER    OF    VOTING. 

1784,  MAY  5. 

Resolved,  unanimously,  That  the  manner  of  voting  be  by  the  Representation 
of  each  State  Society. 

1848,  Nov.  29. 

Resolved,  That  on  all  questions  to  be  decided  at  the  present  meeting  each 
State  delegation  shall  be  entitled  to  cast  three  votes,  and  each  of  the  officers  of 
the  General  Society  shall  be  entitled  to  cast  one  vote,  and  a  majority  of  all  the 
votes  thus  cast  shall  be  necessary  to  a  decision.  Also,  that  it  be  referred  to  a 
Committee  of  one  Member  from  each  State  delegation,  to  report,  at  the  next 
meeting  of  the  General  Society,  on  what  principles  or  rules  the  votes  shall  be 
taken  in  the  meetings  of  the  General  Society  hereafter. 

1851,  MAY  7. 

The  Committee  appointed  under  the  preceding  resolution  reported  the  following  "  Ordi 
nance  ": 

"  Be  it  ordained  by  the  General  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  that  all  elections 
of  the  officers  of  this  Society  shall  be  by  ballot,  and  that  in  such  elections  each 
representation  present  from  a  State  Society  shall  be  entitled  to  cast  five  votes  ; 
and  each  of  the  officers  of  the  General  Society  who  shall  be  present,  shall  be 
entitled  to  cast  one  vote  ;  and  the  majority  of  all  the  votes  thus  cast  shall  be 
necessary  to  an  election. 

"  And  be  it  further  ordained,  that  in  the  decision  of  all  resolutions  and  ques 
tions  submitted  to  the  action  of  the  General  Society,  the  vote  shall  (upon  the 
request  of  any  delegate  from  a  State  Society,  or  of  any  officer  present)  be  taken 
in  the  following  manner,  viz.:  each  representation  present  from  a  State  Society 
shall  be  entitled  to  cast  five  votes  ;  and  each  of  the  officers  of  the  General 
Society,  who  shall  be  present,  shall  be  entitled  to  cast  one  vote  ;  and  a  majority 
of  all  the  votes  thus  cast  shall  be  necessary  for  an  affirmative  decision.  And 
upon  any  question  thus  brought  to  a  vote,  the  yeas  and  nays  shall  be  entered 
on  the  minutes,  at  the  desire  of  any  three  members  present,  whether  delegates 
or  officers." 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  41 


PRESIDENT-GENERAL. 

1784,  MAY  7. 

Resolved,  That  the  President-General  of  the  meeting  of  the  Cincinnati  for 
the  time  being  shall  ever  be  considered  ex-officio  a  member  of  all  Committees, 
and  have  a  right  to  debate  and  vote  therein,  whenever  he  may  think  proper  to 
attend. 


STATE    TROOPS. 

1784,  MAY  13. 

A  question  having  arisen  whether,  by  a  construction  of  the  principles  of  the 
Institution,  such  officers  of  the  State  Troops  as  have  served  three  years  can  be 
admitted  as  Members;  Resolved  in  the  affirmative. 


42  THE    SOCIETY    OK    THE    CINCINNATI. 


RULES    AND    ORDER    OF    BUSINESS. 

1787,  MAY  14. 

A  Committee  for  preparing  Rules  and  Regulations  for  Conducting  the  business  of  the  Gen 
eral  Meeting  Reported. 

I.  When  seven  or  more  States  assemble  for  business,  the  members  shall 
come  to  order  by  taking  their  seats,  and  no  one  shall  leave  the  room  until  the 
meeting  is  adjourned,  without  permission  from  the  President  or  Chairman. 

II.  The  order  of  business  shall  be  to  read  the  Journals,  if  any,  of  the  pre 
ceding  day,  then  the  Dispatches,  then    the  reports  of  Committees,  and  then 
the  order  of  the  day  ;  which,  being  completed,  other  matters  may  be  introduced. 

III.  When    in  session,  members    shall    not   speak   to    one  another  ;    but, 
rising,  shall  address  the  themselves  to  the  President  or  Chairman  only. 

IV.  All  motions,  except  for  adjourning,  the   meeting  from  day  to  day,  or 
for  postponing  the  decision  of  a  question,  shall  be  made  in  writing. 

V.  No  motion  shall  be  debated,  nor  any  question  taken  thereon,  unless  the 
same  is  seconded. 

VI.  All  questions  shall  be  decided  by  a  majority  of  State  Representations 
present ;  seven  making  a  quorum. 

VII.  All  offices  and  Special  Committees  shall  be  appointed  by  ballot  ;  but 
in  other  matters,  wherein  the  members  are  not  agreed,  the  States  shall  be  called, 
and  answer  by  the  words  aye  and  no. 

VIII.  Upon  a  motion  of  adjournment  from  day  to  day,  the   question  shall 
be  put  without  debate,  and  shall  take  place  of  all  other  questions. 

IX.  No  member  shall  speak   more  than   once,  until   every  other  member 
who  chuses,  shall  have  spoken  to  the  same  question  ;  nor  shall  any  member 
speak  oftener  than  twice,  in  any  case,  unless  for  explanation,  and  then,  without 
argument. 

X.  No  member  shall  interrupt  another  while  speaking,  unless  to  call  him 
to  order. 

XI.  All   motions    in    writing  shall  be   open   to   amendment  previously  to 
putting  the  main  question  ;  and  motions  for  postponing  the  whole,  or  any  part 
of  a  question  shall  be  first  in  order. 

XII.  Questions  of  order  shall  be  determined  by  the  President  or  Chairman 
without  debate,  but  an  appeal  may  be  made  to  the  meeting  ;  in  which  case  they 
shall  immediately  decide,  after  permitting  every  member  who  chuses,  to  speak 
once. 

XIII.  In  cases  to  which  the  preceding  rules  do  not  apply,  the  President  or 
Chairman  shall  conduct  the  proceedings  according  to  his  best  discretion. 

The  foregoing  rules  were  adopted. 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  THE  CINCINNATI.  43 

1800,  MAY  7. 

Ordered,  That  at  every  General  Meeting,  after  the  credentials  of  the  respec 
tive  members  shall  have  been  read,  the  Secretary-General  shall  read  the  rules 
and  regulations  for  conducting  the  business  of  the  General  Meeting,  as  adopted 
May,  1787,  previous  to  any  other  business. 

1872,  MAY  29. 

Resoh'ed,  That  at  this,  and  every  succeeding  meeting  of  the  General  Society 
of  the  Cincinnati,  the  principles  embodied  in  the  original  Institution  of  the 
Society  be  read  as  part  of  the  regular  proceedings. 


44  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


TENURE    OF    OFFICE. 
1787,  MAY  19. 

Resolved  unanimously — 

That  the  several  officers  chosen  by  this  Society,  shall  hold  their  offices 
until  the  last  day  of  the  next  General  Meeting,  unless  others  shall  be  duly 
elected  in  their  room. 

STATE    SOCIETIES    TO    MAKE    REPORTS. 

1787,  MAY  19. 

Ordered,  That  the  several  State  Societies  be  punctual  hereafter  in  commu 
nicating  to  each  General  Meeting  fair  and  accurate  returns  of  their  respective 
members,  properly  authenticated,  and  that  the  said  Societies  do,  in  all  things, 
strictly  conform  to  the  principles  of  the  Institution. 

1878,  MAY  22. 

Resolved,  That  at  each  triennial  meeting,  the  Treasurers  of  the  different 
State  Societies  report  in  writing,  the  amount  of  funds,  the  number  of  benefi 
ciaries,  and  the  average  amount  given  to  each. 


INCORPORATION    RECOMMENDED. 

1791,  MAY  5. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  extra  General  Meeting,  that  it  would 
be  expedient  for  the  State  Societies  to  take  proper  measures  for  obtaining  Acts 
of  Incorporation,  so  far  as  may  relate  to  securing  to  each  State  Society  respect 
ively  their  funds,  for  the  charitable  objects  for  which  they  were  designed,  and 
that  the  proper  mode  of  disposing  of  the  same  would  be  by  loaning  their 
certificates  in  the  Loan  Offices  of  their  States  respectively,  and  of  subscribing 
their  funds,  whenever  it  may  be  convenient,  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 


"THE    DIAMOND    INSIGNIA." 
1811,  AUGUST  8. 

The  President-General  reported  to  the  General  Society — 
That  the  Diamond  Insignia  of  the  Order  of  the  Cincmnati,  which  had  been 
presented  by  the  Marine  Officers  of  France,  who  were  members  of  the  Society, 
to  his  Excellency  General  Washington — and  by  the  heirs  of  the  General,  had 
been  sent  to  General  Hamilton,  was  delivered  to  him  (General  Pinckney)  by 
Mrs.  Hamilton — and  as  he  conceived  that  this  testimonial  of  respect  for  the 
immortal  Washington,  which  his  heirs  had  delivered  to  General  Hamilton,  and 
Mrs.  Hamilton  had  been  pleased  to  confide  to  him,  as  President-General  of  the 
Society,  ought,  in  respectful  remembrance  of  her  flattering  distinction,  to  be  here- 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  45 

after  considered  as  appurtenant  to  the  office  of  President-General,  he  requested 
that  this  memorandum  might  be  inserted  on  the  records  of  the  General  Society. 
Whereupon  it  was  unanimously  resolved,  That  the  respectful  and  affectionate 
thanks  of  the  General  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  be  presented  to  Mrs.  Hamilton 
for  this  highly  Acceptable  present ;  and  that  the  wish  of  the  President-General, 
expressed  in  his  memorandum  is  respectfully  acceded  to  by  the  Society. 


MEETINGS. 

From  1805  to  1825,  with  the  exception  of  the  triennial  meeting  in  1811,  the  minutes  are 
wanting.  A  manuscript  letter  to  the  President  of  the  New  York  State  Society,  from  a  delegate, 
gives  an  account  of  an  adjourned  meeting  held  in  September,  1812,  at  which  only  four  State 
Societies  were  represented,  and  no  business  was  transacted. 

All  the  meetings  up  to  1812  were  either  regular  triennial  meetings  or  meetings  held  by 
adjournment.  In  1825  the  President-General  and  Vice-President-General  having  died,  the  Sec 
retary-General  appointed  a  meeting  of  the  General  Society  to  be  held  November  i,  1825. 

1829,  MAY  5. 

Resolved,  that  such  State  Societies  and  officers  of  the  General  Society  as 
convene  in  General  Meetings,  shall  be  competent  to  transact  business. 

1832,  MAY  7. 

Resolved,  That  the  President-General  be  authorized  to  call  a  meeting  of  the 
General  Society,  whenever  circumstances  may  appear  to  render  it  necessary  : 
also  that  the  State  Societies  be  requested  to  appoint  delegates  annually  to 
represent  them  in  the  General  Meeting. 

1838,  MAY  7. 

Resolved,  That  until  further  orders  are  given  on  the  subject,  the  stated  tri 
ennial  meetings  of  the  Society  be  dispensed  with,  and  that  future  meetings  be 
held  when  directed  by  the  President-General,  or  in  the  event  of  his  absence  or 
death,  by  the  Vice-President-General;  and  that  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secre 
tary-General  to  give  due  notice  of  the  same  to  the  several  State  Societies  of  the 
Cincinnati  in  existence  at  such  times. 

Resolved,  That  the  different  State  Societies  of  the  Cincinnati  be  requested, 
annually  to  appoint  delegates  to  attend  any  meeting  tnat  may  be  called. 


SITUATION  OF  THE  STATE  SOCIETIES  IN   1811. 

1811,  AUGUST  8. 

Ordered,  That  a  Committee  of  three  members  be  appointed  to  ascertain  the  present  situation 
of  the  several  State  Societies,  and  to  make  report  to  the  General  Society. 

August  9.  The  following  report  was  read  and  unanimously  agreed  to:  and  it  was  ordered 
that  the  Circular  Letter  be  sijned  by  the  President  and  Secretary  General  in  behalf  of  the  dele 
gates. 

"  In  obedience  to  the  resolve  of  the  General  Society,  which  instructs  your 
Committee  "  to  ascertain  the  present  situation  of  the  several  State  Societies  of 


46  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

the  Cincinnati,"  your  Committee  beg  leave  to  report  that,  as  far  as  their  limited 
inquiry  extends,  it  appears,  on  the  information  of  some  of  its  members,  that  a 
portion  of  the  members  of  the  Delaware  Society  have  dissolved  that  Society, 
and  distributed  its  funds.  And  on  less  authentic  information  it  would  also 
seem  that  portions  of  the  members  of  the  Connecticut  and  Virginia  State 
Societies  of  the  Cincinnati  have  also  dissolved  their  societies,  and  diverted  their 
funds  from  the  purposes  to  which  they  were  originally  pledged,  and  that  the 
other  State  Societies  of  the  Cincinnati  continue  under  the  original  Constitu 
tion,  as  agreed  on  by  the  officers  of  the  American  Army  on  the  banks  of  the 
Hudson  in  the  year  1783. 

"  Your  Committee  beg  leave  further  to  report  that,  under  a  consideration  of 
these  circumstances,  they  think  it  advisable  to  address  a  letter  from  the  General 
Society  of  the  Cincinnati  to  the  respective  State  Societies;  the  following  draught 
of  which  they  respectfully  submit." 

It  was  unanimously  ordered  that  the  proposed  letter  be  sent  to  the  several  State  Societies; 
as  follows: 

"  To  the  , .  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati. 

Urged  by  all  the  considerations,  which  an  endeared  remembrance  of  the 
causes  that  led  to  the  organization  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  can  sug 
gest,  and  under  an  ardent  wish  to  perpetuate  the  benevolent  objects  for  which 
it  was  instituted,  the  delegates  to  the  General  Society,  now  convened  at  Phila 
delphia,  have  resolved,  without  reserve,  to  communicate  the  sentiments  with 
which  they  are  deeply  impressed,  to  the  several  State  Societies. 

"  It  is  with  extreme  regret  they  state  that  the  apprehension,  heretofore  enter 
tained,  and  often  expressed,  that  the  neglect,  on  the  part  of  several  State 
Societies,  to  appoint  delegates  to  the  General  Society,  would  be  productive  of 
the  most  serious  consequences,  .is  alarmingly  realised  by  the  inconsiderate  act 
of  a  portion  of  the  members  of  one  or  more  State  Societies,  in  dissolving  their 
official  connection  as  members  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  in  distributing  those 
funds  which  had  long  ceased  to  be  individual  property,  or  liable  to  any  but 
their  original  appropriation.  An  act  such  as  this  most  evidently  involves  a 
departure  from  the  solemn  engagement,  entered  into  on  the  banks  of  the  Hud 
son,  to  perpetuate  the  Institution,  and  to  preserve  unalienated,  and  unimpaired, 
those  funds  which  had  been  sacredly  devoted  to  the  relief  of  distressed  mem 
bers  and  their  families.  That  this  deeply  regretted  cessation  of  intercourse, 
between  the  General  and  State  Societies,  has  been  the  influential  cause  of  these 
errors,  is  our  most  serious  conviction  ;  and  that  the  best  corrective  of  these 
unconstitutional  proceedings  will  be  found  in  the  immediate  renewal  of  that 
endeared  intercourse,  no  one  who  indulges  the  recollection  of  the  scenes,  that 
passed  in  the  service  of  our  beloved  country,  can  for  a  moment  hesitate  to 
believe. 

"  It  is,  therefore,  most  earnestly  recommended  to  the  several  State  Societies 
that  they  would  not  only  appoint  delegates  to  attend  the  next  meeting  of  the 
General  Society,  which  will  be  held  at  Philadelphia  on  the  second  Tuesday  of 
September,  1812,  but  that  they  would  enjoin  their  punctual  attendance,  as  the 


MAJOR  GKNKRAT. 


s 


THK    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  47 

most  efficient  means  of  restoring  that  harmony  which  ought  forever  to  subsist 
between  men,  who,  as  faithful  comrades  in  honor  and  misfortune,  must  anx 
iously  desire,  by  the  continuance  of  this  Society,  to  transmit  a  grateful  remem 
brance  of  their  union,  and  of  those  services,  by  which  the  national  claim  to 
sovereignty  and  independence  was  established.* 

"  Done  in  General  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  at  Philadelphia,  August  9,  1811. 

By  unanimous  Order, 

CHARLES  COTESWORTH  PINCKNEY, 

President-  General. 
"  W.  JACKSON, 

Secretary-  General. ' ' 


1829,  MAY  5. 

Resolved,  That  the  members  residing  in  any  State  not  having  a  State  Society 
of  the  Cincinnati,  may  form  themselves  into  such  State  Society. 


*  The  New  Hampshire  State  Society  continued  to  hold  its  meetings  regularly  until  1823,  but  subsequently 
became  extinct.  The  last  of  its  original  members  (Capt.  Daniel  Gookin)  died  about  the  year  1830.  In  1842  his 
son,  John  W.  Gookin,  of  North  Yarmouth,  Maine,  presented  the  books  and  papers  of  the  Society  to  the  New 
Hampshire  Historical  Society,  who  have  published  the  proceedings  of  the  Cincinnati  in  the  sixth  volume  of  their 
collections. 

From  the  list  of  names  published  by  the  New  Hampshire  Historical  Society,  there  appear  to  have  been 
twenty-nine  original  members  belonging-  to  the  State  Society. 

The  Connecticut  State  Society,  at  its  Anniversary  Meeting  on  July  4,  1804,  adopted  the  following  resolution, 
viz.:  "That  the  Connecticut  State  Society  shall,  this  4th  day  of  July,  1804,  be  dissolved,  and  that  each  original 
member,  his  legal  heirs  or  representatives,  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  his  proportion  of  the  funds  of  the  Society,  in 
equal  proportions  to  the  sums  by  them  respectively  paid  in,  as  soon  as  the  same  can  be  ascertained  by  a  committee 
appointed  for  that  purpose."  A  committee  was  appointed  to  make  out  a  schedule  of  the  original  members,  the 
sums  which  they  had  respectively  paid  in,  and  the  amount  which  they  are  respectively  entitled  to  receive.  A  sub 
sequent  meeting  was  to  be  held  for  the  purpose  of  hearing  the  report  of  the  committee  and  distributing  the  funds. 
It  was  further  resolved  "  that  all  money  belonging  to  this  society,  not  paid  to  the  members  by  the  loth  day  of  May 
next,  shall  be  by  said  committee  placed  in  the  Treasury  of  Yale  College,  in  trust,  as  a  place  of  safe  keeping  for  the 
members  or  their  legal  representatives,"  &c.,  &c. 

By  a  vote  of  the  Society,  all  its  books,  papers  and  other  documents  were  deposited  in  the  hands  of  John  Mix, 
Esq.,  for  safe  keeping.  They  are  now  in  the  keeping  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  at  Hartford,  with 
whom  they  are  understood  to  have  been  deposited  by  the  heirs  of  John  Mix. 

On  the  original  Roll  of  the  Connecticut  State  Society,  deposited  in  the  Historical  Society,  there  appear  two 
hundred  and  forty-eight  names  of  original  members  (officers  in  the  Army)  and  eleven  in  right  of  deceased 
officers. 

At  the  meeting  on  the  4th  July,  1804,  a  committee  on  the  Treasurer's  accounts  estimated  the  funds  of  the 
Society  at  upwards  of  $15,000. 

The  Delaware  State  Society  is  understood  to  have  continued  its  existence  but  a  short  time.  At  a  meeting  of 
the  New  York  State  Society,  August  2,  1804,  a  letter  was  read  from  Edward  Roach,  late  Secretary  of  the  Delaware 
State  Society,  stating  that  that  Society  had  been  dissolved  long  since,  and  the  funds  been  divided  among  the 
members. 

A  list  of  members  of  the  Delaware  Society,  returned  to  the  General  Society  in  1788,  shows  twenty-seven 
original  members. 

The  Virginia  State  Society. — The  committee  (of  1811)  was  in  error  in  reporting  the  dissolution  of  the  Vir 
ginia  Society.  The  Hon.  Francis  T.  Brooke,  formerly  Judge  of  Appeals  in  Virginia,  in  a  letter  written  in  1848, 
states  that  he  had  formerly  been  Vice-President  of  the  Virginia  Society;  that  its  last  meeting  was  held  in  1821  or 
1822,  when  a  resolution  was  passed  directing  the  Vice-President  and  Treasurer  (Major  Gibson)  to  transfer  the  funds 
to  "  Washington  College,  at  Lexington,"  and  then  dissolved. 

It  is  understood  that  the  minutes,  &c.,  of  the  Virginia  Society  are  in  existence,  and  that  they  are  soon  to  be 
published  by  the  Virginia  State  Historical  Society. 

The  North  Carolina  State  Society  was  represented  in  the  General  Meeting  of  1790,  as  was  also  the  Georgia 
State  Society.  But  little  has  been  traced  of  either  of  these  two  Societies.  It  is  known  that  an  election  of  officers 
of  the  Georgia  Society  was  held  in  1795,  but  no  later  account  has  been  found. 


48  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

DESCENT  THROUGH  FEMALE  LINE. 

1829,  MAY  5. 

A  question  having  arisen  whether,  in  case  of  the  death  of  a  member  having 
no  male  issue  except  a  grandson,  the  issue  of  a  daughter,  such  grandson  shall 
be  preferred  to  make  collaterals;  the  Society  conceived  the  true  construction  to 
be  that  the  grandson  shall  be  preferred,  he  being  in  the  direct  line  of  descent. 

ELECTION  OF  MEMBERS— TENURE  OF  OFFICE. 

1844,  Nov.  29. 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary-General  be  requested  to  collect  from  the 
minutes  and  proceedings  of  the  Society  the  different  rules  and  regulations 
which  have  from  time  to  time  been  adopted  in  regard  to  the  election  and  tenure 
of  office  of  the  members  and  officers  thereof. 

1848,  Nov.  29. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  General  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  held  in  Philadelphia, 
the  29th  November,  1848,  the  Secretary-General  made  the  accompanying  report, 
in  conformity  with  a  resolution  of  the  special  meeting  of  November  28,  1844, 
which  was  adopted,  and  ordered  to  be  printed  for  the  use  of  members  of  the 
State  Societies. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Secretary-General  be  requested  to  collect  from  the 
minutes  and  proceedings  of  the  Society  the  different  rules  and  regulations  that 
have  been  from  time  to  time  adopted  in  regard  to  the  election  and  tenure  of 
members  and  officers  thereof." 

"  The  Secretary-General  reports  : 

"  That  he  has  carefully  examined  all  the  minutes  and  proceedings  of  the 
Society  in  his  possession,  and  respectfully  submits  the  following  as  the 
result  : 

"  The  Constitution,  accepted  by  the  Society  in  1783,  provides  that  the  mem 
bers  shall  consist  of  the  officers  of  the  American  Army,  as  well  those  who 
have  resigned  with  honour,  after  three  years'  service  in  the  capacity  of  officers, 
or  who  have  been  deranged  by  the  resolutions  of  Congress,  upon  the  several 
reforms  of  the  army,  as  those  who  shall  have  continued  to  the  end  of  the  war. 
Those  officers  who  are  foreigners,  not  resident  in  any  of  the  States,  to  have  their 
names  enrolled  by  the  Secretary-General.  And  declares  the  Society  shall 
endure  as  long  as  they  endure,  or  any  of  their  eldest  jnale  posterity,  and  in 
failure  thereof,  the  collateral  branches,  who  may  be  judged  worthy  of  becoming 
its  supporters  and  members. 

"  This  last  provision  is  extended  in  like  manner  to  the  descendants  of  such 
officers  as  had  died  in  the  service. 

"  The  admission  of  honorary  members,  for  their  own  lives  only,  is  also  provided 
for  by  the  Constitution  ;  but  they  are  not  to  exceed  in  number  in  each  State 
a  ratio  of  one  to  four  of  the  officers  or  their  descendants. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


49 


"  The  same  instrument  directs  that,  "  in  the  general  meeting,  the  President, 
Vice- President,  Secretary,  Assistant  Secretary,  Treasurer,  and  Assistant  Treas 
urer-General,  shall  be  chosen  to  serve  until  next  meeting." 

"  At  the  first  general  meeting  of  the  Society,  held  on  the  4th  of  May,  1784, 
and  continued  by  adjournment  until  the  iSthof  said  month,  it  was  unanimously 
resolved,  "  that  the  manner  of  voting  be  by  the  representation  of  each  State 
Society."  Subsequently,  at  said  meeting,  material  alterations  in  the  Constitu 
tion  were  agreed  to,  affecting  (inter  alia)  the  election  and  tenure  of  members 
and  officers.  These  alterations,  however,  never  received  the  sanction  of  the 
State  Societies,  as  appears  by  the  unanimous  adoption,  in  general  meeting,  in 
May,  A.  D.  1800,  of  the  following  report  of  a  committee  appointed  to  examine 
the  records  of  the  Society,  and  report  to  said  meeting  the  state  of  the  insti 
tution,  viz.  : 

"  That  the  institution  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  remains  as  it  was 
originally  proposed  and  adopted  by  the  officers  of  the  American  Army,  at  their 
cantonments  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  in  1783." 

"  Since  the  re-acknowledgment  of  the  original  institution,  the  Secretary- 
General  finds  nothing  touching  the  election  or  tenure  of  members,  except  the 
following,  extracted  from  the  minutes  of  a  general  meeting,  held  on  the  4th  of 
May,  1829,  viz.  : 

"A  question  having  arisen  whether,  in  case  of  the  death  of  a  member  having 
no  male  issue  except  a  grandson,  the  issue  of  a  daughter,  such  grandchild  shall 
be  preferred  to  collaterals ;  the  Society  conceives  the  true  construction  of  the 
Constitution  to  be,  that  the  grandchild  shall  be  preferred,  he  being  in  the  direct 
line  of  descent." 

"  And  in  relation  to  the  officers  of  the  Society,  he  finds  that  since  the  substi 
tution  of  special  for  stated  triennial  meetings,  the  officers  have  been  chosen  for 
three  years,  and  thenceforward  until  a  new  election  takes  place. 

A.  W.  JOHNSTON,  Secretary-General." 


TRUSTEES  TO  HOLD  FUNDS. 

1848,  Nov.  30. 

Resolved,  That  the  Chairman  appoint  three  Trustees,  of  whom  the  Treasurer- 
General,  for  the  time  being,  shall  be  one,  in  whose  joint  names  all  investments  of 
the  funds  of  the  General  Society  shall  be  made,  and  who  shall  change  and  trans 
fer  such  investments  to  their  successors  or  otherwise,  as  the  Society  shall  from 
time  to  time  direct. 

Also  resolved,  That  in  case  of  the  death  or  resignation  of  one  of  the  said 
Trustees,  the  survivors  shall  have  power  to  appoint  a  Trustee  in  his  place,  to 
hold  office  until  the  next  meeting  of  the  Society. 

Mr.  A.  W.  Johnston  and  Mr.  Markland  were  appointed  Trustees  in  conjunction  with  the 
Treasurer-General. 

1856,  MAY.  Mr.  John  McDowell,  Jun.,  was  appointed  Trustee  in  place  of  A.  W.  Johnston, 
deceased  ;  and  in  1863  Mr.  Robert  Adams  was  appointed  in  place  of  Mr.  Markland,  deceased. 


50  THE  SOCIETY  OF  THE  CINCINNATI. 

1875,  MAY   13. 

Resolved,  That  the  U.  S.  Bonds  belonging  to  the  Society,  and  any  other  secu 
rities  which  may  hereafter  be  acquired,  be  invested  in  the  joint  names  of  the 
Treasurer-General  and  Assistant  Treasurer-General  as  Trustees,  with  the  right 
of  survivorship,  and  that  in  case  of  any  change  in  either  of  these  officers,  from 
death  or  other  cause,  that  the  said  Bonds  and  Securities  be  transferred  (from 
time  to  time)  to  the  actual  officers  above  named — and  immediately  upon  the 
appointment  of  a  new  Trustee  all  investments  of  the  Societies'  Securities  shall 
be  transferred  to  the  joint  names  of  the  then  existing  Trustees,  as  joint 
tenants. 

1875,  MAY  13. 

Resolved,  That  the  Treasurer-General  be  directed  to  deposit  the  current 
receipts  of  money  from  our  funds  in  such  bank  as  he  may  select  with  the  con 
currence  of  the  President-General,  to  the  credit  of  the  General  Society  of  the 
Cincinnati,  subject  to  the  draft  of  the  Treasurer-General  for  the  time  being,  or, 
in  case  of  his  death,  of  the  Assistant-Treasurer. 


EXPENSES  OF  THE  GENERAL  MEETINGS. 

1854,  MAY   18. 

Resolved,  That  in  future  the  expenses  of  the  General  Meetings  of  the  Society 
be  borne  in  equal  proportions  by  the  State  Societies,  whether  represented  or 
not. 


TITLE,  &c.,  OF  MEMBERS. 

1855,  FEB.   7. 

Resolved,  That  hereafter  no  other  title  than  that  of  Mr.  be  used  in  desig 
nating  members  in  the  minutes  of  the  General  Society. 

1863,  MAY  14. 

Resolved,  That  the  resolution  adopted  on  7th  February,  1855,  whereby  it  was 
ordered  "that  hereafter  no  other  title  than  that  of  Mr.  be  used  in  designating 
members  in  the  minutes  of  the  General  Society,"  be  and  the  same  is  hereby 
rescinded. 


CHAPLAINS. 

1860,  MAY  2. 

Resolved,  That  one  or  more  Chaplains  be  appointed.  Also,  that  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Alfred  L.  Baury,  Rev.  Mr.  David  Smith,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Maucius  S.  Hutton, 
be  such  Chaplains. 

1863,   MAY   14.    Rev.  Charles  S.  Beatty  was,  on  motion,  appointed  one  of  the  Chaplains. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  51 

SUCCESSION  AND  ADMISSION  OF   MEMBERS. 

1851,  MAY. 

A  Committee  appointed  in  1848  to  inquire  and  report  with  regard  to  the  admission  of  mem 
bers,  &c.,  reported  (among  other  things)  as  follows  : 

"  The  best  answer  to  be  given  to  the  inquiry  proposed  to  the  Committee,  is 
not  by  any  innovation,  but  by  the  just  interpretation  of  those  principles  that 
prevailed  during  the  life-time  of  the  founders.  They  laid  down  certain  great 
principles,  which  we  hold  sacred  and  inviolable  ;  our  feelings,  our  judgment, 
and  our  duty  concur  in  inhibiting  the  suggestion  of  change  in  them. 

"The  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  was  not  limited  to  the  lives  of  its  founders, 
or  to  those  of  their  immediate  families.  It  was  established  as  a  Society  of 
Friends,  to  endure  as  long  as  any  of  their  eldest  male  posterity,  and  on  failure 
thereof,  the  collateral  branches,  who  might  be  judged  worthy  of  becoming  its 
members. 

"Although  these  terms  did  not,  by  their  own  force,  provide  any  distinct  and 
positive  limitation,  relating  as  they  did  more  precisely  to  the  duration  of  the 
Society,  they  certainly  contemplated  the  principle  of  hereditary  succession,  in 
the  lineage  of  the  first  founder  ;  providing  against  an  extinction  of  the  Society 
on  the  failure  of  the  eldest  male  branch  of  his  posterity,  by  embracing  under 
the  description  of  '  collaterals,'  all  his  other  male  descendants,  not  confined  to 
any  specific  line  (male  or  female)  of  derivation." 

*  *  *  *  *        .         *  *  * 

"  The  Committee  may  here  advert  to  the  original  distinction  marked  between 
the  '  eldest  male  posterity '  and  the  '  collateral  branches  ;'  that  is,  in  terms, 
between  the  eldest  and  collateral  male  branches.  It  is  obvious,  as  used  in  this 
connection,  that  the  word  'collateral'  meant  collateral  to  'eldest  male  ;'  in  other 
words,  the  term  denoted  the  younger  branches  of  the  male  posterity  ;  and  it 
did  not  intend  to  embrace,  except,  perhaps,  remotely,  brothers  or  nephews  of 
original  members." 

******** 

"  In  this  connection  the  Committee  would  refer  to  the  action  of  the  General 
Meeting,  held  in  Philadelphia,  in  May,  1829,  when  '  a  question  having  arisen 
whether,  in  case  of  the  death  of  a  member  having  no  male  issue  except  a 
grandson,  the  issue  of  a  daughter,  such  grandson  shall  be  preferred  to  male 
collaterals  ;  the  Society  conceived  the  true  construction  of  the  Constitution  to 
be,  that  the  grandson  shall  be  preferred,  he  being  in  the  direct  line  of  descent.' 

"  Doing  away  with  the  apparent  distinction  drawn  between  eldest  and  col 
lateral  in  the  lineal  descent,  and  opening  the  succession  equally  to  all  in  the 
direct  line  of  descent  of  the  first  founder,  allows  room  for  choice  on  the  ground 
of  merit,  and  leaves  the  question  solely,  who  shall  fill  the  place  with  most  advan 
tage?  Proper  distinction  is  still  to  be  maintained  between  those  in  direct  line 
and  other  more  remote  collaterals — in  favor  of  the  former,  so  long  as  any  of 
the  former  are  found  worthy.  And  there  will  be  no  danger  that  the  preference 
given  to  the  eldest  will  not  prevail,  as  long  as  those  proper  feelings  of  mankind, 
which  point  to  the  eldest  son  as  the  natural  successor  of  the  father  in  the  seat 
of  honor,  while  there  is  no  other  more  worthy  to  enjoy  it,  shall  continue.  That 
a  due  regard  will  always  be  paid  to  the  predilections  of  the  founders  of  the 


52  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Institution,  we  may  safely  trust  to  the  sentiments  of  filial  piety  and  reverence  in 
their  descendants.  The  prescriptive  preference  of  the  eldest  son  has  been 
religiously  observed  by  most  of  the  State  Societies.  That  the  fundamental 
principle  has  been  faithfully  preserved,  and  that  the  Institution  stands  on  its 
hereditary  ground,  the  best  attestation  is,  that  while  the  original  members  are 

almost  gone,  their  places  are  chiefly  filled  by  their  eldest  lineal  descendants." 
*  *  ***##* 

"  It  is  in  vain,  in  the  present  diversity  of  practice,  to  exact  a  uniform  rule, 
or  extract  from  the  variety  more  than  a  general  principle  ;  or  to  insist  upon  any 
ground  but  one  that  shall  embody  the  spirit,  and  embrace  the  objects  of  the 
original  Institution  in  its  comprehensive  scope,  limiting  the  succession  to  the 
blood  of  the  Revolution. 

"The  Committee  is,  therefore,  brought  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Institution 
remains  on  the  original  foundation  of  1783,  subject,  however,  to  some  modifi 
cation  of  the  strict  technical  construction  of  the  terms  therein  used  with  regard 
to  the  hereditary  succession,  congenial  to  the  spirit  of  our  civil  institutions,  and 
in  accordance  with  the  sense  of  the  General  Society  and  of  the  State  Societies, 
as  expressed  in  reference  to  the  proposed  amendment  of  1784:  that  the  right 
of  succession  is  not  absolute  even  in  the  eldest  son,  but  is  subject  to  the  right 
of  the  Society  to  judge  whether  he  be  '  worthy  of  becoming  its  supporter  and 
member.'  That  this  right  of  the  Society  to  judge  of  the  merit  of  the  applicant 
applies  equally  to  the  eldest  son  and  to  the  '  collateral  branches,'  descending 
from  the  original  members  ;  and  thus  that  the  right  of  succession,  by  title  of 
primogeniture,  is  wholly  subordinate  to  the  claim  of  worth  and  merit  on  the 
part  of  the  applicant. 

"  The  Committee  believe  this  to  have  been  the  final  intention  of  the  framers 
of  the  Institution,  and  also  to  be  a  fair  construction  of  the  language  of  that 
instrument.  At  all  events,  the  silent  action  and  usage  of  the  Society,  in  all  its 
branches,  for  considerably  more  than  half  a  century,  has  given  a  construction 
to  this  principle  which  cannot  well  now  be  questioned. 

"  In  the  Ordinance  submitted  herewith  expression  is  distinctly  given  to  this 
construction." 

**  ****** 

"  The  Committee  believe  that  they  express  the  feeling  of  every  member  of 
the  Society  when  they  declare  their  entire  unwillingness  to  extend  the  right  of 
membership  in  any  succession,  whether  lineal  or  collateral,  beyond  the  descend 
ants,  or  other  representatives  of  the  officers  of  the  American  Army  during  the 
War  of  the  Revolution. 

"From  them  it  is  hoped  and  believed  that  the  Society  may  be  recruited  to 
its  original  strength  and  vigor. 

"  The  Committee  has  neither  been  willing  nor  felt  itself  at  liberty  to  suggest 
any  rule  which  should  conflict  with  the  great  principles  which  were  laid  down 
in  the  establishment  of  the  Institution.  These  they  regard  as  sacred,  invio 
lable. 

"  The  sources  whence  increased  numbers  are  hoped  for  under  the  plan 
recommended  by  the  Committee,  and  embraced  in  the  Ordinance  reported  here 
with,  are  two-fold,  i.  The  descendants  of  officers  of  the  American  Army  of 
the  Revolution,  who  did  not  themselves  become  members  of  the  Society. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  53 

2.  The  admission  of  all  the  adult  male  descendants  of  the  original  members  of 
the  Society  instead  of  confining  the  representation  to  a  single  descendant. 

"  The  original  Institution  does  not  restrict  the  representation  of  the  officer  of 
the  army  who  became  a  member  of  the  Society,  to  a  single  descendant  of  such 
officer.  The  Society  is  '  to  endure  as  long  as  they  shall  endure,  or  any  of  their 
eldest  male  posterity,  &c. — who  may  be  judged  worthy  of  becoming  its  sup 
porters  and  members.'  This  language,  it  may  be  argued,  admits  of  more  than 
one  of  such  posterity  being  admitted  ;  and  it  has  been  shown,  that  the  practice 
in  at  least  one  State  Society,  has  been  to  admit  several  representatives  of  the 
original  stock,  at  the  same  time  ;  and  this  practice  is  entirely  in  accordance  with 
the  spirit  of  that  design  of  the  founders  of  the  Institution,  which  sought  to 
'  perpetuate  as  well  the  remembrance  of  a  vast  event,  as  the  friendships  formed 
under  the  pressure  of  common  danger,'  and  '  particularly  to  extend  acts  of 
beneficence  towards  those  officers  and  their  families,  who  unfortunately  may  be 
under  the  necessity  of  receiving  it.' 

"  It  will  be  observed,  that  the  Ordinance  reported  herewith,  proposes  to 
recognize,  in  terms,  the  right  of  any  State  Society  to  admit  all  the  adult  male 
descendants  of  any  officer  of  the  American  Army  of  the  Revolution,  who  was, 
or  who  was  entitled  to  have  become  a  member  of  the  Society,  but  not  the 
absolute  right  of  such  descendants  to  claim  admission  without  regard  to  the 
judgment  of  the  Society. 

"  With  these  observations,  the  Committee  submit  the  result  of  their  deliber 
ations,  in  the  form  of  an  Ordinance,  for  the  consideration  of  the  General 
Society. 

"  Should  this  Ordinance,  in  whole  or  in  part,  meet  the  approbation  of  the 
General  Society,  or  be  susceptible  of  amendment,  so  as  to  secure  such  appro 
bation,  it  will,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Committee,  be  necessary  that  it  be  trans 
mitted  in  the  form  eventually  approved,  to  the  several  State  Societies  for  their 
approval  and  ratification  ;  and  if  approved  and  adopted  by  them,  the  Com 
mittee  recommend  that  it  be  considered  and  declared  a  rule  for  future  action 
in  the  admission  of  members  to  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati." 

This  report  was  adopted  and  the  Ordinance  reported  by  the  Committee  was  adopted  by  the 
General  Meeting  in  the  form  following,  and  its  adoption  recommended  to  the  State  Societies  : 


AN  ORDINANCE 

RELATIVE    TO    THE    SUCCESSION    AND    ADMISSION    OF    MEMBERS. 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati, 

I.  That  lineal  succession  to   membership  shall  be  according  to  the  rules  of 
inheritance  at  the  common  law,  except  only  as  in  these  canons  it  is  otherwise 
provided:  and  provided  that  none  but  males  shall  at   any  time  be  admitted  to 
membership. 

II.  In  lineal  succession  the  officer  of  the  Army  of  the  Revolution  who  is  or 
was  a  member,  or  who  had  a  right  to  become  a  member,  shall  in  all  cases  be 
deemed  and  taken  as  the  propositus  from  whom  succession  shall  be  derived. 


54  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

III.  No  person  under  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  shall  be  admitted  a  member; 
but  the  right  of  membership  in  lineal  succession  having  been  established,  the 
use  of  that  right  shall  remain  in  abeyance  until  the  applicant  shall  attain  the 
full  age  of  twenty-one  years. 

IV.  Hereafter  all  male  descendants  of  officers  of  the  Revolutionary  Army 
may  be   admitted  to   membership  by   any  of   the  State  Societies  ;     but    such 
admission   shall  be  upon   terms,  that  is   to  say  :    each  and  every  of  the  male 
descendants  of  the  said  officers  so  to  be  admitted,  except  such  as  shall  or  may 
be  entitled  in  lineal  succession  from  his  father,  or   other  progenitor,  shall  pay 
into  the  Treasury  of -the  State  Society  into  which  he  shall  be  admitted,  the  sum 
of  sixty  dollars. 

V.  The  General  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  shall  have  power  and   authority 
to  admit  honorary  members  at  their  discretion. 

VI.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  each  of   the  State  Societies  to 
transmit  annually,  between  the  fourth  day  of  July  and  the  first  day  of  October, 
to  the  Secretary-General,  a  certified  list  of  all  the  officers  and  members  of  the 
State  Society  to  which  he  shall  belong. 

VII.  Each  and  every  of  the  State  Societies  shall   pay  into  the  Treasury  of 
the  General  Society  the  sum  of  ten  dollars,  for  the  account  of  the  admission  of 
every  member  who  shall  be  admitted  under  or  by  virtue  of   the  fourth  canon, 
before  mentioned. 

VIII.  In  case  of  an  application  for  admission  as  a  member,  by  right  of 
descent  in  the  lineal  succession,  as  recognized  in  the  first  of  these  canons,  if  the 
State  Society   to  which    such    application  be  presented,    shall  be   of  opinion 
that  from  any  cause  the  applicant  is  unworthy  to  be  admitted,  they  may  decline 
to  admit  such  applicant,  and  hold  the  right  of  succession  in  abeyance. 

1854,  MAY  18. 

The  Ordinance  relative  to  the  succession  and  admission  of  members,  recommended  at  the  last 
triennial  meeting  to  the  action  of  the  State  Societies,  being  called  up  for  consideration,  and  it 
appearing  from  the  Secretary-General's  report  of  the  communications  made  to  him  on  the  subject, 
that  several  State  Societies  had  not  concurred  in  said  Ordinances,  it  was  announced  by  the  Presi 
dent-General  that  the  Ordinances  not  having  received  the  assent  of  all  the  State  Societies  have 
failed  to  be  adopted. 

The  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  reported  by  a  committee,  viz. : 
Whereas,  the  Ordinances  relating  to  succession  and  membership,  proposed  at 
the  last  triennial  meeting  to  the  several  State  Societies  for  their  sanction,  do 
not  appear  to  have  been  adopted  by  them,  while  no  disagreement  or  dissatis 
faction  has  been  evinced,  in  respect  to  the  general  principles  contained  in  the 
report  submitted  with  the  same,  which  has  been  received  with  favor  and 
approved,  so  far  as  opinion  has  been  expressed  ;  therefore,  in  order  to  carry  out 
those  principles  more  satisfactorily,  and  at  the  same  time  to  harmonize  their 
results  with  the  views  and  practical  constructions  prevailing  among  the  different 
State  Societies, 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  55 

Resolved,  That  each  State  Society  shall  have  the  full  right  and  power  to 
regulate  the  admission  of  members,  both  as  to  the  qualifications  of  the  members 
and  the  terms  of  admission,  Provided,  that  admission  be  confined  to  the  male 
descendants  of  original  members,  or  of  those  who  are  now  members  (including 
collateral  branches  as  contemplated  by  the  original  Constitution" ;  or  to  the  male 
descendants  of  such  officers  of  the  Army  or  Navy  as  may  have  been  entitled  to 
admission,  but  who  failed  to  avail  themselves  thereof  within  the  time  limited 
by  the  Constitution  ;  or  to  the  male  descendants  of  such  officers  of  the  Army 
or  Navy  of  the  Revolution  as  may  have  resigned  with  honor  or  left  the  service 
with  reputation  ;  or  to  the  male  collateral  relatives  of  any  officer  who  died  in 
service  without  leaving  issue. 

Resolved,  That  the  male  descendants  of  those  who  were  members  of  State 
Societies  which  have  been  dissolved,  may  be  admitted  into  existing  Societies 
upon  such  terms  as  those  Societies  may  think  proper  to  prescribe. 

Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  resolutions  be  proposed  to  the  several  State 
Societies  and  their  assent  be  requested  thereto  ;  and  upon  such  assent  being 
given  by  each  of  the  remaining  Societies,  the  Secretary-General  shall  issue 
notice  thereof  to  each  Society  ;  and  thereupon  the  said  resolutions  shall  become 
operative,  and  each  State  Society  shall  be  at  liberty  to  act  upon  the  power  given 
thereby. 

1856,  MAY. 

The  resolutions  recommended  by  the  General  Meeting,  held  in  1854,  for  adoption  by  the 
several  State  Societies,  not  having  received  the  concurrent  approval  of  these  Societies,  the  General 
Meeting  held  in  Trenton,  May,  1856,  at  which  delegates  were  present  from  five  State  Societies, 
viz.:  Massachusetts,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  South  Carolina,  the  following  pre 
amble  and  resolutions  were  adopted,  viz. : 

Whereas,  the  resolutions  in  reference  to  the  admission  of  members  which 
were  adopted  by  the  triennial  meeting  at  Baltimore  in  May,  1854,  were  the 
result  of  careful  deliberation  and  successive  action  continued  though  a  number 
of  years; 

And,  whereas,  the  said  meeting  was  the  first  and  only  one  at  which 
there  was  a  full  representation  of  all  the  State  Societies,  in  addition  to  the 
whole  of  the  officers,  and  said  action  was  concurred  in  by  all  the  officers  and 
representatives  present  at  said  meeting  ; 

And,  whereas,  this  meeting  is  satisfied  tint  a  large  majority  of  the  State 
Societies  desire  the  adoption  of  said  resolutions,  and  deem  it  more  consistent 
with  the  principles  of  the  General  Society  that  the  State  Societies  should  be 
permitted  to  exercise  their  judgment  within  the  limits  named  in  said  resolu 
tions,  than  that  either  the  majority  or  minority  of  said  Societies  should  control 
the  action  of  the  other.  Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  resolution  adopted  at  the  last  triennial  meeting,  requir 
ing  the  assent  of  the  several  State  Societies  to  the  resolutions  in  relation  to  the 
admission  of  members,  as  the  condition  on  which  the  said  resolutions  shall 
become  operative,  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby,  repealed.* 


*  The  effect  of  this  resolution  has  been  supposed  to  give  immediate  force  and  operation  to  the  first  and  second 
resolutions  proposed  by  the  triennial  General  Meeting  of  1854.  for  assent  by  the  several  State  Societies,  and  these 
resolutions  have  accordingly  been  acted  upon  by  several  of  the  State  Societies. 

See,  however,  the  resolution  of  the  General  Society,  in  May,  1800  (ante,  page  36). 


56  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

REVIVAL  OF  EXTINCT  OR  SUSPENDED    STATE   SOCIETIES. 

1860,  MAY  3. 

It  having  been  suggested  that  in  several  of  the  States  where  the  Society  of 
the  Cincinnati  has  been  suspended  or  is  now  extinct,  there  is  a  disposition 
evinced  by  the  descendants  of  the  original  members  to  renew  their  association 
and  admission  into  union  with  the  General  Society.  Therefore 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  confer  with  such  persons  as  are 
interested  in  the  restoration  of  the  several  societies  above  referred  to,  and  that 
they  be  invited  to  appoint  delegates  to  confer  with  the  General  Society,  at  the 
next  or  any  subsequent  meeting,  on  the  subject  of  their  admission  into  union 
with  the  same. 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  of  Conference  consist  of  three  members  of  this 
body,  who  shall  be  and  hereby  are  empowered  to  act  in  the*  premises  at  their 
discretion. 

The  President-General  appointed  Mr.  Baury,  Mr.  Markland,  and  Mr.  Tilgh- 
man,  to  be  that  committee. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Scott,  seconded  by  Mr.  Patterson,  it  was  resolved  that 
the  President-General  be  requested  to  take  part  in  the  proceedings  of  this 
committee. 

1863,  May. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Baury,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the  Restoration  of 
Societies  in  States  where  it  has  become  extinct,  read  the  following  : 

The  Committee  appointed  at  the  Triennial  Meeting  of  the  General  Society 
of  the  Cincinnati,  assembled  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  May  2,  1860,  for  the 
purpose  of  "  conferring  with  such  persons  as  are  interested  in  the  restoration  of 
the  Society  in  the  several  States  where  the  Association  of  the  Cincinnati  has 
been  suspended,  or  is  now  extinct,"  respectfully  report  : 

That  the  disturbed  state  of  the  country  has  rendered  it  impracticable  for 
your  Committee  to  prosecute  the  object  of  their  appointment  with  any  reason 
able  prospect  of  success. 

A  correspondence  has,  however,  been  opened  on  the  subject  of  your  Com 
mittee's  appointment,  with  Samuel  H.  Parsons,  Esq.,  of  Middletown,  Connecti 
cut,  from  which  the  following  facts  have  been  adduced  : 

1.  That  the  late  General  Parsons,  of  the  Army  of  the  Revolution,  was  Presi 
dent  of  the  Connecticut  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  at  the  time  of  its  dissolution. 

2.  That  the  records  and  papers  of  said  Society  were  deposited  or  are  now  in 
the  Connecticut  Historical  Rooms  in  the  City  of  Hartford 

3.  That  individuals  claiming  to  be  the  representatives  of  original  members 
of  said  Connecticut  Society,  have  been  admitted  to  membership,  with  all  its 
rights  and  privileges,  in  several  of  the  States  where  the  Society  of  the  Cincin 
nati  still  maintains  an  honorable  existence. 

In  submitting  this  their  report  to  the  General  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  the 
undersigned  respectfully  request  to  be  discharged  from  the  further  prosecution 
of  a  subject  which,  under  more  favorable  circumstances  in  our  national  history, 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  57 

may  in  its  results  prove  of  importance  to  the  best  interests  of   our  venerable 
Association. 

Signed  in  behalf  of  the  Committee, 

ALFRED  L.  BAURY, 

NEW  YORK,  May  14,  1863.  Chairman. 

The  report  was  accepted  and  the  Committee  discharged  from  the  further 
consideration  of  the  subject. 

1872,  May  29. 

On  motion  of  Admiral  Thatcher,  the  following  preamble  and  resolution  were 
adopted,  and  referred  to  a  committee  of  one  from  each  State  : 

Whereas,  In  consequence  of  inquiries  from  descendants  of  Revolutionary 
officers  residing  in  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut,  transmitted  through  Admiral 
Thatcher  of  Massachusetts,  and  Mr.  Greaton  of  New  York,  as  to  whether  the 
reorganization  of  defunct  State  Societies  required  the  permission  of  the  General 
Society. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  referred  to  a  committee,  to  consist  of  a  member  from 
each  State  Society,  to  inquire  and  report  on  the  expediency  and  propriety  of 
permitting  (and  upon  what  terms  and  conditions)  the  reorganization  of  any 
State  Society,  now  dissolved,  which  might  apply  to  the  General  Society  for 
permission  to  reorganize. 

The  Chairman  named  as  the  committee  on  Admiral  Thatcher's  resolution  : 

Admiral  H.  K.  Thatcher,  Massachusetts ;  Mr.  Jno.  W.  Greaton,  New  York  ; 
Mr.  Wm.  B.  Dayton,  New  Jersey  ;  Com.  A.  H.  Kilty,  Maryland  ;  Mr.  James  L. 
Harmar,  Pennsylvania  ;  and  Mr.  James  Simons,  Jr.,  South  Carolina. 

MAY  30. 

Mr.  Dayton  from  the  committee  of  inquiry  by  Admiral  Thatcher,  respecting 
the  reorganization  of  the  State  Societies  that  have  disbanded  and  divided  their 
funds,  read  the  following  report,  which  was  agreed  to,  and  ordered  to  be  entered 
on  the  minutes  : 

To  the  General  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  : 

Your  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  resolution  offered  on  Wednesday, 
May  29th,  by  Admiral  Thatcher,  at  the  request  of  parties  in  the  States  of  Rhode 
Island  and  Connecticut,  looking  to  and  soliciting  permission  to  resuscitate  the 
Societies  of  the  Cincinnati  in  those  respective  States,  and,  after  such  reorgan 
ization,  to  be  admitted  to  full  representation  in  the  General  Society,  respectfully 
report  that  they  have  given  the  subject  mature  and  careful  discussion  and 
deliberation,  and  as  the  result  thereof,  respectfully  submit  for  your  consideration 
and  action  the  following  : 

While  we  are  fully  convinced  of  the  supreme  authority  of  the  General  Society 
in  such  matters,  and  cannot  and  do  not  admit  the  right  of  any  State  Society, 
which  has  once  had  an  existence,  and  has  since  disbanded,  and  distributed  the 
fund  which  was  the  main  basis  of  their  original  organization,  to  resume  its 
original  status,  yet  we  feel,  and  so  report,  after  a  review  of  the  question  pre- 


58  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

sented,  that  it  may  be  expedient  and  proper  for  the  General  Society  to  receive 
and  consider  any  such  application  which  may  be  made,  provided  that  the  same 
is  made  to  the  Society  after  a  temporary  organization  has  been  effected  by 
those  applying  ;  satisfactory  evidence  has  been  presented  that  the  amount  of 
the  fund  existing  at  the  time  of  the  disbandment  of  the  Society  has  been  fully 
made  up  (with  simple  interest  from  the  date  of  such  disbandment),  a  list  being 
furnished  of  the  descendants  of  original  members  now  residing  in  the  States  who 
desire  to  revive  the  organization  ;  and  a  full  statement  of  the  facts  which 
induced  such  disbandment,  and  the  disposition  made  of  such  funds  by  the 
members  having  the  control  of  them  at  that  time. 

HENRY  K.  THATCHER, 

Chairman  of  Committee. 

1878,  MAY  22. 

Descendants  of  some  of  the  Original  Members  of  the  Rhode  Island  State  Society,  having 
taken  measures  to  resuscitate  that  State  Society,  presented  to  the  General  Meeting,  assembled  in 
Philadelphia,  the  following  Application  : 

ALDINE  HOTEL,  Philadelphia,  22d  May,  1878. 
To  GEORGE  W.  HARRIS,  Secretary-General  of  the  Cincinnati — Present. 

SIR  :  The  Delegates  appointed  by  the  "  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  in  the 
State  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations  "  beg  leave  to  present  their 
credentials  as  representatives  of  said  Society,  and  respectfully  request  action 
thereon. 

We  have  the  honor  to  be,  Sir, 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servants, 
NATH'L  GREEN, 
DAVID  KING, 
ASA  BIRD  GARDNER, 
JAMES  M.  VARNUM, 
DANIEL  WANTON    LYMAN. 

On  motion  of  Gen.  Cochrane,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted,  viz.: 
Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  five  be  appointed  by  the  Chair  to  consider 
the  subject  of  the  reorganization  of  State  Societies  that  have  been  dissolved;  to 
inquire  into  the  circumstances  attending  the  dissolution  of  any  Society;  the 
distribution  of  the  funds  ;  and  that  the  papers  and  credentials  in  regard  to  any 
such  application  be  referred  to  the  said  Committee. 

The  Chair  appointed  Gen.  Cochrane,  Rev.  Dr.  Lothrop,  Judge  Nixon,  Dr. 
Wm.  A.  Irvine  and  Mr.  James  Simmons,  Jr.,  the  Committee  under  the  resolution. 

MAY  23. 

General  Cochrane,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  appointed  yesterday  on  the 
subject  of  the  Claims  of  Societies  that  had  been  dissolved,  presented  a  report, 
and,  by  leave,  submitted  also  the  dissenting  views  of  a  minority  of  the  Com 
mittee,  which,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Hamilton,  were  accepted  for  consideration. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


59 


Judge  Nixon  moved  the  adoption  of  the  Majority  Report. 

General  Cochrane  moved  to  amend  by  adopting  the  Minority  Report. 

On  motion  of  Judge  Elmer,  a  recess  was  taken  until  half-past  two. 

Upon  reassembling  the  consideration  of  the  report  was  resumed,  and  after 
discussion  thereupon,  Mr.  Hamilton  moved  that  the  application  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Society  be  recommitted  to  the  Committee  to  obtain  fuller  information, 
and  to  report  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Society. 

At  the  request  of  a  Delegate  present,  the  vote  upon  this  resolution  was  taken 
as  provided  by  the  rule  adopted  in  1851,  and  it  passed  in  the  affirmative.  Ayes, 
14 — Nays,  n.  And  thus  the  resolution  was  adopted,  and  the  application 
recommitted. 

1881,  APRIL  15. 

General  Cochrane  presented  the  following  unanimous  report  of  four  of  the 
members  of  the  Committee  (the  fifth,  Judge  Nixon,  not  having  been  present  at 
their  deliberations,  nor  being  at  the  meeting  of  the  Society). 

The  Committee,  to  so  much  of  the  resolution  under  which  they  were 
appointed  as  directs  them  to  consider  the  reorganization  of  State  Societies 
that  have  been  dissolved,  report,  that  having  carefully  examined  that  branch  of 
the  subject  referred  to  them,  in  their  opinion  no  further  or  other  rule  is  neces 
sary  than  that  already  existing  and  accepted  by  the  Society,  at  the  stated  Trien 
nial  meeting  thereof,  May  29,  1872,  and  then  and  there  agreed  to,  and  ordered 
to  be  placed  upon  its  minutes  in  the  words  following,  viz.: 

To  the  General  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  : 

Your  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  Resolution  offered  on  Wednesday,  May  2gth,  by 
Admiral  Thatcher,  at  the  request  of  parties  in  the  States  of  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut, 
looking  to  and  soliciting  permission  to  resuscitate  the  Societies  of  the  Cincinnati  in  those  respective 
States,  and,  after  such  re-organization,  to  be  admitted  to  full  representation  in  the  General  Society, 
respectfully  report  that  they  have  given  the  subject  mature  and  careful  discussion  and  deliberation, 
and,  as  the  result  thereof,  respectfully  submit  for  your  consideration  and  action  the  following: 

While  we  are  fully  convinced  of  the  supreme  authority  of  the  General  Society  in  such  matters, 
and  cannot  and  do  not  admit  the  right  of  any  State  Society,  which  has  once  had  an  existence,  and 
has  since  disbanded,  and  distributed  the  fund  which  was  the  main  basis  of  their  original  organi 
zation,  to  resume  its  original  status,  yet  we  feel,  and  so  report,  after  a  review  of  the  question 
presented,  that  it  may  be  expedient  and  proper  for  the  General  Society  to  receive  and  consider  any 
such  application  which  may  be  made,  provided  that  the  same  is  made  to  the  Society  after  a 
temporary  organization  has  been  effected  by  those  applying ;  and  after  satisfactory  evidence  has 
been  presented,  that  the  amount  of  the  fund  existing  at  the  time  of  the  disbandment  of  the  Society 
has  been  fully  made  up  (with  simple  interest  from  the  date  of  such  disbandment),  a  list  being 
furnished  of  the  descendants  of  original  members  now  residing  in  the  States  who  desire  to  revive 
the  organization  ;  and  a  full  statement  of  the  facts  which  induced  such  disbandment,  and  the  dis 
position  made  of  such  funds  by  the  members  having  the  control  of  them  at  that  time. 

HENRY  K.   THATCHER,   Chairman  of  Committee. 

The  Committee,  having  been  attended  by  the  Delegates  accredited  to  the 
General  Society  by  the  Rhode  Island  Society,  claimed  by  them  to  be  in  exist 
ence,  and  having  examined  the  books  and  papers  produced  by  them,  and  other 
evidence  accessible  to  the  Committee,  and  bearing  upon  the  subject;  to  so  much 
of  the  resolution  under  which  they  were  appointed  as  directs  them  "to  inquire 
into  the  circumstances  attending  the  dissolution  of  any  Society;  the  distribution 


60  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

of  the  funds,  and  that  the  papers  and  credentials  in  regard  to  any  such  application 
be  referred  to  the  same  Committee,"  further 

Report,  that  the  Rhode  Island  Society  was  incorporated  by  an  Act  of  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  Rhode  Island,  Dec.  28,  1814,  for  the  purpose  of  insuring  the  due  application  of  its  funds 
to  the  charitable  uses  contemplated  by  the  "  Institution  ;  "  that  said  Charter  of  Incorporation  was 
surrendered  by  resolution  of  the  Society,  July  4,  1832,  but  which  surrender  was  revoked,  and  the 
Original  Charter  revived,  March  26,  1878.  As  these  Legislative  Acts  were  thought  to  be  foreign 
to  the  application  of  the  Delegates  for  seats  in  the  General  Meeting  of  the  General  Society,  as 
representatives  of  the  Rhode  Island  Society,  your  Committee  did  not  advert  to  them,  except  as 
incidental  to  the  history  of  the  case,  but  proceeded  to  consider  the  facts  bearing,  under  the 
"  Institution  "  of  the  Society,  upon  the  creation  and  continuance,  the  funds  and  their  distribution, 
the  dissolution  and  revival  of  the  Cincinnati  Society  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  and  the  claim 
of  those  applying  to  be  admitted  as  Delegates  to  represent  it  in  the  General  Meeting  of  the 
General  Society  of  1878. 

The  Committee  accordingly  report: 

I.  The  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  in  Rhode  Island,  was  originally  organized  in  the  year 
1783,  in  accordance  with  the  Institution  of  the  Society.     The  original  list  of  its  members  exists 
unimpaired,  in  the  possession  of  its  alleged  successor. 

II.  By  virtue  of  its  original  list,  the  Society  continued  under  the  Institution  from  its  found 
ation  in  1783  without  intermission  to  the  year  1832. 

III.  The  book  of  the  original  minutes  of  the  Society  shows  that  a  Committee  was  raised  July 
4,  1789,  to  draft  a  code  of  By-Laws.     It  was  continued  July  4,    1792,    but  no  minute  has  been 
found  of  the  report  of  the  Committee,  or  of  the  adoption  of  the  By-Laws,  each  occasion,  as  it 
arose,  appearing  to  have  been  governed  by  especial  direction. 

IV.  It  appears  from  the  minutes  that,  by  a  vote,  July  5,  1784,  it  was  resolved  that  not  a  less 
number  than  thirteen  should  constitute  a  meeting  of  the  Society;  which  rule  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  changed.     A  subsequent  vote  of  the  Society,  October  9,  1786,  empowered  the  standing 
Committee  to  transact  the  business  of  the  Society  ;  and  July  5,  1790,  the  standing  Committee  was 
ordered  to  consist  of  six  members,  afterwards  increased  to  ten  ;  at  both  of  which  numbers,  four 
was  voted  to  be  a  quorum  of  the  Committee. 

V.  The  minutes  record  the  meetings  of  the  Society,  regularly,  from  its  foundation  in  1783  to 
1831  inclusive.     It  is  recorded  that  fifteen  members  (a  quorum)  were  present  at  the  meeting  on 
the  4th  of  July  of  that  year.    It  further  appears  that  the  Treasurer's  account  was  read  and  accepted 
on  that  occasion,  and  that  Thomas  Coles,  the  Treasurer,  and  Thomas  P.  Ives,  were  appointed  a 
Committee  to  invest  the  surplus  funds  in  bank  stock. 

July  4th,  1832,  the  minutes  show  a  stated  meeting  at  which  there  were  present  eight  members 
(not  a  quorum)  and  one  honorary  member.  The  Treasurer's  account  was  then  read  and  accepted, 
but  it  seems  not  to  have  been  recovered.  The  following  Resolutions  are  recorded  as  having 
passed  at  this  meeting,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  the  Charter  of  Incorporation  of  this  Society  be  surrendered  to  the  Legislature 
of  this  State,  the  Society  be  dissolved,  and  the  funds  be  divided  and  distributed  to  the  surviving 
original  members,  and  to  the  legal  heirs  or  representatives  of  those  who  have  deceased,  in  pro 
portion  to  their  several  original  deposits,  deducting  from  their  respective  proportions  any  advances 
which  may  have  been  made  by  way  of  loans  or  otherwise. 

Resolved,  That  the  President,  Treasurer,  and  John  S.  Dexter,  be  a  Committee  to  carry  the 
preceding  resolution  into  effect,  and  that  on  their  completion  of  this  business,  notice  thereof  be 
given  to  all  concerned. 

VOTED:  That  said  Committee  be  empowered  to  sell  from  time  to  time,  such  and  so  many 
shares  of  the  bank  stock  belonging  to  the  Company  (sic}  as  the  occasion  may  require  for  the  com 
plete  and  entire  distribution  of  the  funds. 

Ephraim  Bowen  was  then  the  President,  and  Thomas  Coles  the  Treasurer  of  the  Society. 

A  bill  against  the  Society  (designated)  was  then  voted  to  be  paid,  and  that  the  standing  Com 
mittee  and  the  officers  of  the  Society  be  continued. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  6l 

Subsequently  there  appear  from  the  minutes  to  have  been  meetings  of  the  Society,  and  of  the 
standing  Committee,  at  which  business  was  transacted  as  follows  : 

A  meeting  of  the  Standing  Committee,  August  2gth,  1832,  at  which  six  members  (a  quorum) 
were  present,  when  it  was  voted  that  the  resignation  of  Thomas  Coles,  as  Treasurer  of  the  Society, 
be  received;  that  his  last  account,  received  that  day,  be  read  and  audited,  and  that  the  thanks  of 
the  Society  be  tendered  to  him.  Col.  John  S.  Dexter  was  then  made  Treasurer,  and  successor  of 
Thomas  Coles,  and  Thomas  C.  Hopper  was  empowered  to  receive  the  books,  papers,  and  property 
of  the  Society,  and  to  deliver  the  same  to  Col.  John  S.  Dexter,  taking  from  him  a  receipt  for  the 
same.  It  was  further  voted  that  Henry  Ward  be  a  member  of  the  Society. 

A  meeting  of  the  Standing  Committee,  June  22d,  1833  (without  note  of  the  number  present), 
to  arrange  for  a  dinner  July  4th,  1833,  for  twenty-five  or  thirty  persons. 

A  meeting  of  the  Society  July  4th,  1833,  at  which  eight  members  (not  a  quorum)  were  pres 
ent,  when  the  standing  Committee  was  continued,  and  when  it  was  voted  that  the  President  (E. 
Bowen),  Treasurer  (John  S.  Dexter),  and  Thomas  Coles  be  a  Committee  to  carry  into  effect  the 
vote  of  the  last  year  for  distributing  the  funds  of  the  Society  among  its  members.  An  adjourn 
ment  was  then  taken  to  the  next  year. 

A  meeting  of  the  standing  Committee  June  28,  1834,  at  which  five  members  (not  a  quorum) 
were  present  to  arrange  for  a  dinner,  July  4th,  ensuing. 

A  meeting  of  the  Society,  July  4th,  1834,  at  which  five  members  (not  a  quorum)  were  pres 
ent,  the  record  of  which  states  only  that  "  the  Society  dined  at  the  Franklin  House."  No  meet 
ing  is  recorded  of  the  Standing  Committee  in  1835. 

A  meeting  of  the  Society  in  Providence,  July  4th,  1835,  at  which  five  members  (not  a  quorum) 
were  present,  when  the  existing  officers  were  re-elected  for  the  ensuing  year,  and  when  a  statement 
by  John  S.  Dexter,  the  Treasurer,  of  his  accounts  to  that  date  was  received  and  placed  on  file. 
An  adjournment  was  then  had  to  the  same  place,  July  4th,  1836. 

There  is  no  minute  of  any  subsequent  meeting,  either  of  the  Society  or  of  the  Standing  Com 
mittee. 

VI.  At  the  Triennial  meeting  of  the  General  Society  in  Boston,  May  29,  1872,  the  following 
preamble  and  resolutions  were,  on  motion  of  Admiral  Thatcher,  adopted  and  referred  to  a  Com 
mittee  of  one  from  each  State  : 

WHEREAS,  in  consequence  of  inquiries  from  descendants  of  Revolutionary  officers,  residing 
in  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut,  transmitted  through  Admiral  Thatcher  of  Massachusetts  and 
Mr.  Greaton  of  New  York,  as  to  whether  the  re-organization  of  defunct  State  Societies  required 
the  permission  of  the  General  Society: 

Resolved,  That  it  be  referred  to  a  Committee,  to  consist  of  a  member  from  each  State  Society, 
to  inquire  and  report  on  the  expediency  and  propriety  of  permitting  (and  upon  what  terms  and 
conditions)  the  re-organization  of  any  State  Society  now  dissolved,  which  might  apply  to  the  Gene 
ral  Society  for  permission  to  re-organize. 

The  Chairman  named  as  the  Committee  on  this  Resolution,  Admiral  H.  K.  Thatcher,  Massa 
chusetts,  Mr.  John  W.  Greaton,  New  York,  Mr.  Win.  B.  Dayton,  New  Jersey,  Com.  A.  H. 
Kilty,  Maryland,  Mr.  James  L.  Harmar,  Pennsylvania,  and  Mr.  James  Simons,  Jr.,  South 
Carolina.  Mr.  Dayton  of  this  Committee  read  the  following  report,  which  was  agreed  to  and 
ordered  to  be  entered  on  the  minutes  : 

To  the  General  Society  of  the  Cincinnati: 

Your  Committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  resolution  offered  on  Wednesday,  May  29,  by 
Admiral  Thatcher,  at  the  request  of  parties  in  the  States  of  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut,  look 
ing  to,  and  soliciting  permission  to  resuscitate  the  Societies  of  the  Cincinnati  in  those  respective 
States,  and  after  such  re-organization  to  be  admitted  to  full  representation  in  the  General  Society, 
respectfully  report  that  they  have  given  the  subject  mature  and  careful  discussion  and  deliberation, 
and  as  the  result  thereof,  respectfully  submit  for  your  consideration  and  action  the  following: 

While  we  are  fully  convinced  of  the  supreme  authority  of  the  General  Society  in  such  matters 
and  cannot  and  do  not  admit  the  right  of  any  State  Society,  which  has  once  had  an  existence  and 
has  since  disbanded  and  distributed  the  fund  which  was  the  main  basis  of  their  original  organiza 
tion,  to  resume  its  original  status,  yet,  we  feel,  and  so  report,  after  a  review  of  the  question  pre- 


62  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

sented,  that  it  may  be  expedient  and  proper  for  the  General  Society  to  receive  and  consider  any 
such  application  which  may  be  made,  provided  that  the  same  is  made  to  the  Society,  after  a  tem 
porary  organization  has  been  effected  by  those  applying,  and  after  satisfactory  evidence  has  been 
presented,  that  the  amount  of  the  fund  existing  at  the  time  of  the  disbandment  of  the  Society, 
has  been  fully  made  up  (with  simple  interest  from  the  date  of  such  disbandment),  a  list  being  fur 
nished  of  the  descendants  of  original  members  now  residing  in  the  States,  who  desire  to  revive 
the  organization,  and  a  full  statement  of  the  facts  which  induced  such  disbandment  and  the  dis 
position  made  of  such  funds  by  the  members  having  the  control  of  them  at  that  time. 

HENRY  K.  THATCHER,  Chairman  of  Committee. 

VII.  It  having  become  known  that  an  attempt  was  making  before  the  Legislature  of  Rhode 
Island,    to  divert  the  fund  of  the  Rhode  Island  Society,  which  remained  in  the  custody  of  the 
Incorporation  of  the  Society,  from  its  proper  purposes,  nine  of  the  eldest  lineal  descendants  of 
original  members  of  the  Society  organized  and  successfully  opposed  it  by  procuring,  March  26, 
1878,  from  said  Legislature,  an  Act  recognizing  the  act  of  incorporation  of  the  Society,  December 
28,  1814,  and  procured  it  to  be  so  amended  as  to  make  them,  and  one  other  with  them,  the  suc 
cessors  of  the  original  incorporators,  and  so  as  to  empower  them  to  hold  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Rhode  Island  Society,  the  fund  remaining  and  belonging  to  it. 

VIII.  On  the  notice  of  the  aforesaid  lineal  descendants,  twelve  of  the  eldest  lineal  descend 
ants  of  the  original  members  of  the  Rhode  Island  Society,  a  list  of  whom  is  hereunto  appended, 
assembled,  December  12,  1877,  in  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  and  organized  themselves,  by  elect 
ing  a  President  and  the  other  officers  named  by  the  Institution  for  the  State  Societies,  and  having 
appointed  five  delegates  to  represent  the  so  organized  State  Society,  at  the  Triennial  Meeting  of 
the  General  Society  in  1878,  did  thereupon  adjourn  to  meet  within  said  State,  July  4,  1878,  and 
thenceforward  have  continued  their  meetings,  and  transacted  their  business  periodically. 

IX.  Subsequently,  the  officers  of  the   Society  so  elected  took  possession   of,  and  hold  the 
promissory  notes  of  various  members  of  the  Society  to  the  amount,  as  stated,  of  $1,500,  for 
moneys  loaned  previous  to  the  aforesaid  resolution  of  dissolution  of  July  4,  1832;  and  applied  for 
and  received  about  $640  of  principal  and  accumulated  interest  on  4  shares  of  the  Union  Bank, 
standing  in  the  name  and  to  the  credit  of  the  Rhode  Island  Society,  on  the  books  of  the  bank,  and 
remaining  unsold  and  untransferred. 

X.  Funds.     The  original  minutes  of  the  Society,  while  noting  the  presentation  and  accept 
ance  of  the  Treasurer's  accounts,  do  not  anywhere  furnish  a  record  of  them,  either  in  detail  or 
summary.     From  the  entries,  however,  under  dates  of  July  4,  1831,  1832,  and  1833  respectively, 
where  a  committee  was,  in  1831,   authorized  to   invest  the  surplus  funds;   another,  in  1832,  to 
divide  and  distribute  them  among  the  members,  and  another,  in   1833,  to  carry  into  effect  the 
resolution  of  distribution  of  the  previous  year,  an  inference  is  warranted  that  the  Society  was  not 
destitute  of  means.     But  what  their  amount,  how  invested,   and  what  their  ultimate  disposition, 
can  be  but  approximately  ascertained.     It  should  be  observed,  however,  that  this  difficulty  is 
probably  the  result  of  a  practice  of  destroying  the  papers  in  his  possession,  shown  to  have  been 
habitual  to  Col.  John  S.  Dexter,  the  last  Treasurer  of  the  Society;  while  specific  evidence  produced 
to  the  Committee,  proves  the  destruction  by  himself,  during  his  residence  at  Cumberland,  in  1835 
and  onward,  and  by  his  granddaughter,  Mrs.  Snow,  under  his  direction,  subsequently  in  1873,  of 
whatever  papers  of  the  Rhode  Island  Society  were  under  his  control. 

That  such  papers  had  been  delivered  to  him,  may  be  presumed  in  the  absence  of  proof  to 
the  contrary,  from  the  probability  that  Thomas  C.  Hoppin,  who  was  charged  by  the  standing 
Committee,  August  29,  1832,  with  their  delivery  to  him,  discharged  that  duty.  Nevertheless, 
four  separate  and  detached  statements  have  assisted  the  Committee  to  a  practically  reliable  con 
clusion. 

The  first  of  these  is  indorsed,  "  List  of  names  of  the  Rhode  Island  Society  of  Cincinnati." 
It  was  discovered  by  a  Mrs.  Cranston,  on  search  among  the  papers,  in  her  hands,  of  Thos.  Coles. 
The  handwriting  is  that  of  Thos.  Coles  throughout.  It  contains  the  names  of  the  officers,  mem 
bers  (original  members,  probably),  of  the  Rhode  Island  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  the 
money  paid  by  each,  in  sums  from  $75  to  $20  respectively.  Then  follow  informally  these  detached 
memorandums: 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  63 

Whole  Capital  deposited,         $2,567  36 

Stock,  viz.: 

k  59  shares  Exchange  Bank 2,950  oo 

12  shares  Manufacturers'  Bank 600  oo 

34  shares  Union  Bank 850  oo 


$4,400  oo 

The  effect  of  this  statement  will  be  hereafter  considered. 
The  second  statement  is  in  the  words  and  figures  following,  viz.  : 

"  JULY  4,  1832. 

"  Is  a  statement  of  expenses  from  July  4,  1832,  to  August  8,  being  small  expenses,  $84.09, 
and  cash  on  hand,  $577.28.  Cash  on  hand  July  4,  1832,  $661.30.  Amount  deposited  in  Black- 
stone  Canal  Bank. 

' '  Account  examined  and  found  correct. 

"THOMAS  C.   HOPPIN,  Auditor. 

"  Signed,  THOS.  COLES." 

This  statement,  though  primarily  referred  to  July  4,  1832,  is  not  the  report  appearing  by 
the  minutes  to  have  been  read  and  accepted  by  the  Society,  at  its  meeting  on  that  day;  for  it  pur 
ports  to  be  an  account  of  small  expenditures,  in  the  interval  between  that  date  and  August  8th 
ensuing.  Yet,  .its  intrinsic  evidence  is  to  the  effect  that  the  cash  on  hand  ($577.28)  8th  of  August, 
1832,  was  the  balance  of  the  cash  on  hand  4th  of  July  previous,  after  deducting  therefrom  the 
small  expenses  ($84.09)  of  the  interval  time.  Evidently,  this  account  is  identical  with  the  one 
voted  to  be  received  and  audited,  as  the  last  account  received  that  day  from  the  Treasurer  (Thos. 
Coles)  by  the  standing  Committee,  Aug.  29,  1832.  The  amount  of  cash  on  hand  August  29, 
1832,  is  therefore  supposed  to  have  been  $577.28. 

Next  is  the  statement  of  February  12-19,  1881,  third  in  order  of  consideration,  of  J.  C. 
Johnson,  Cashier  of  the  Union  Bank,  of  the  sums  standing  on  the  books  of  the  Bank,  at  the  dates 
specified,  to  the  credit  of  the  Rhode  Island  Society. 

"  August  29,  1832,  there  were  66  shares  of  Union  Bank  stock  in  the  name  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Cincinnati,  and  $239.37  to  its  credit  on  the  Ledger.  This  latter  amount  appears  to  have 
been  from  dividends  on  the  stock.  August  31,  1832,  this  sum  ($239.37)  was  withdrawn,  and  in 
1833  and  1834  further  credits  from  dividends  of  $106.75  and  $108  were  also  drawn. 

"  From  September  22d  to  July  22d,  1834,  there  were  transferred  at  different  times  42  shares 
of  the  stock,  leaving  July  4,  1835,  twenty-four  (24)  shares  as  ....  John  S.  Dexter  reported. 
The  stock  transfers  are  all  signed  John  S.  Dexter,  Treasurer.  We  are  unable  to  say  who  signed 
the  checks  for  the  withdrawal  of  the  deposits,  as  they  are  probably  among  the  ashes  of  the  past. 
The  par  value  of  the  stock  is  $50. 

"Of  the  24  shares  Union  Bank  stock,  reported  as  being  in  the  name  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Society  Cincinnati,  July  24,  1835,  twenty  of  them  were  transferred  during  the  interval  between 
October  7,  1835,  and  February  5,  1839,  both  dates  inclusive;  and  all  dividends  up  to  and  including 
July,  1847,  were  receipted  for  and  taken.  The  re-organized  Society  of  the  present  time  came  into 
and  assumed  possession  of  the  remaining  four  shares,  and  have  received  the  dividends  made  since, 
and  including  January,  1848,  to  the  present  time.  All  transfers  were  signed  by  John  S.  Dexter, 
Treasurer." 

The  $239.37,  dividends  on  stock,  which  the  Cashier  states  to  have  stood  to  the  credit  of  the 
Rhode  Island  Society,  on  the  books  of  the  Union  Bank,  August  29,  1832,  could  have  been  no 
part  of  the  $577.28  cash  on  hand,  reported  by  the  Treasurer,  Thos.  Coles,  to  have  been  on  that 
day  deposited  in  the  Blackstone  Canal  Bank  ;  forthe  $239.37  were  not  withdrawn  from  the  Union 
Bank  till  August,  3ist,  or  two  days  afterwards,  the  $577.28  having,  two  days  before  that,  been 
reported  as  a  balance  of  moneys  in  the  Treasury  to  the  credit  of  the  Society  so  far  back  as  the 
4th  of  July  previous.  Then,  it  is  apparent  that  on  the  day  (August  29,  1832),  when  the  Trea 
surer,  Thos.  Coles,  reported  $577.28  deposited  in  the  Blackstone  Canal  Bank  to  the  credit  of  the 
Society,  there  was  also  to  its  credit  on  the  books  of  the  Union  Bank  the  further  sum  of  $239,37, 
so  that  its  cash  on  hand  July  4,  1832,  may  be  reasonably  supposed  to  have  been  the  sum  total  of 
these  credits  on  the  books  of  both  banks,  or  $816.65.  Additional  credits  to  the  Society  also 
appear  on  the  books  of  the  bank  in  1833  and  1834  of  $106.75  and  $108.  Other  sums,  it  seems, 


64  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE   CINCINNATI. 

were  drawn  at  intervals  to  July  31,  1847,  the  amount  of  which  is  not  known.  As  all  these  were 
dividends  of  stock,  accruing  subsequently  to  the  resolution  of  July  4,  1832,  to  dissolve,  they  are 
not  included  in  the  cash  on  hand  at  that  date  ;  but  will  find  expression  in  the  interest  of  the  prin 
cipal  fund,  should  its  retrieval  be  prescribed  as  a  condition  precedent  to  the  revival  of  the  Society. 
The  discrepancy  between  the  amount  of  66  shares  of  Bank  stock,  at  $55  per  share,  $3,630 
credited  by  the  Union  Bank  to  the  Society,  August  29,  1832,  and  between  the  cash,  $816.65, 
shown  to  have  been  on  hand  July  4,  1832,  and  the  $4,400  of  stock,  and  the  $2,567.36  cash  on 
hand,  named  in  the  statement  of  Thos.  Coles,  hereinbefore  given,  being  a  discrepancy  in  stock  of 
$770,  and  in  cash  on  hand  of  $1,750.71,  is  not  assumed  as  chargeable  against  the  Society. 
Neither  date  nor  any  circumstance  with  which  the  statement  can  be  connected,  demands  its  refer 
ence  to  any  particular  time.  It  seems  to  have  been  an  unofficial  memorandum,  of  a  miscellaneous 
and  general  character,  made  by  Thos.  Coles  for  his  private  use,  while  he  was  Treasurer  of  the 
Society,  at  some  period  of  his  incumbency  from  1825  to  1832.  It  is  not  in  the  form  of  an  account 
— purports  to  be  a  list  of  the  names  of  the  members  of  the  Rhode  Island  Society,  and  roughly 
estimates  its  fund. 

It  being  impossible  to  reconcile  it  with  the  Treasurer's  reports  of  1832  and  1835,  which 
survive,  either  as  to  amount  of  cash  on  hand  or  of  bank  stock,  or  as  to  the  banks  in  which  the 
funds  of  the  Society  were  deposited,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  statement  refers  to  a 
period  so  long  anterior  to  the  year  1832,  that  no  safe  conclusion  can  rest  upon  it  of  the  amount 
and  condition  of  the  funds  of  the  Society  in  the  latter  year.  For  these  reasons  it  is  rejected  as  a 
basis  of  accountability.  Upon  the  opposite  assumption,  however,  that  its  full  amounts  should  be 
accounted  for,  there  are  considerations  which,  it  is  submitted,  require  that  the  Society  should  not 
be  subjected  to  injury  therefrom.  As  has  been  said,  the  statement  can  be  predicated  of  no  specific 
date.  It  is  more  pertinent  to  1825,  the  first  year  of  Thos.  Coles's  term,  than  to  1832,  the  last  ; 
and  if  cash  on  hand  was,  as  is  probable,  reduced  legitimately  from  $2,567.36  to  $577.88,  in  his 
official  life,  the  inquiry  is  pertinent  whether  the  $4,400  of  Bank  stock  in  1825,  may  not  also  have 
been  in  like  manner  reduced  to  $3,630  in  1832.  The  book  of  original  minutes  discloses  that  the 
demands  upon  the  Society  for  assistance  must  have  been  frequent  and  large.  The  inference  is 
warranted  that  considerable  expense  must  have  been  incurred  in  the  burial  of  the  dead  ;  and  so 
importunate  appear  to  have  been  its  living  members  for  relief,  that  loans  were  made  to  them  upon 
the  security  of  their  promissory  notes.  There  is  an  account  of  some  of  these  left  in  Thos.  Coles's 
handwriting.  There  is  evidence  that  there  were  others.  They  appear  to  have  been  in  small  and 
large  sums,  from  $40  to  $500,  and  of  various  dates,  from  1801  to  1827,  and  probably  later. 
Though  these  loans  were  irregular  and  injudicious,  and  must  have  impaired  the  integrity  of  the 
fund,  guaranteed  by  the  Institution  as  permanent,  yet,  the  apparent  urgency  of  the  necessity  which 
caused  the  violation,  may  be  invoked  to  relieve  it.  These  loans  are  claimed  to  have  aggregated 
some  $1,500,  and  may  have  been  more.  For  these  reasons  it  is  surmised  that  the  Bank  stock  sold, 
and  the  cash  expended,  previous  to  the  resolution  of  July  4,  1832,  which  ordered  the  then  existing 
fund  to  be  divided  and  distributed,  were  absorbed  by  loans  to  relieve  the  personal  necessities  of  the 
members  of  the  Society.  Improvident  as  it  was,  the  evidence  is  not  thought  sufficient  to  charge 
any  wilful  violation  of  the  Trust  fund,  upon  the  Society  to  2gth  August,  1832, 

The  minutes  of  no  meeting,  either  of  the  Society  or  of  the  Standing  Committee,  after  that 
date,  refer  to  the  Treasurer's  accounts  or  to  fiscal  affairs,  till  the  meeting  of  the  Society,  July  4, 
1835,  when  they  record  that  "  a  statement  of  the  Treasurer's  accounts  up  to  that  day  was  read  and 
placed  on  file."  Opposite  to  this  entry  we  come  to  the  statement  fourth,  named  as  containing  a 
report  of  the  finances  of  the  Society.  It  is  indorsed  in  Col.  John  S.  Dexter,  the  Treasurer's, 
handwriting.  "  Statement  of  the  concerns  of  the  Rhode  Island  Societj  of  Cincinnati,  July  2d, 
1835."  The  caption  of  the  interior  is  in  the  same  words,  the  date  there  being  July  4,  1835.  The 
whole  is  written  by  the  Treasurer,  and  is  as  follows  : 

"  Remaining  funds  of  the  Society,  viz.: 

"  24  shares  of  stock  in  the  Union  Bank,  @  $55  per  share $1,320  oo 

"  Cash,  Blackstone  Canal  Bank 105  68 

' '  Cash  in  my  hands 32  20 

"  Dividend  on  Union  Bank  stock 42  oo 

"  Surplus  fund  of  the  Society $M99  88 

"  JOHN  S.  DEXTER,  Treasurer." 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  65 

"That  this  account  was  not  destroyed  with  other  papers  of  the  Society  in  the  Treasurer's 
hands,  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  it  seems  to  have  been  a  paper  which  he  did  not  retain. 
His  original  letter  to  Colonel  Ephraim  Bowen,  President  of  the  Society,  dated  Cumberland,  July 
4,  !835,  expresses  "  bodily  indisposition  and  mental  depression  "  as  the  reason  of  his  inability  to 
attend  the  meeting  of  the  4th.  He  therefore  encloses  to  him  the  statement  of  his  account  as 
Treasurer.  It  is  doubtless  the  statement  referred  to  by  the  minutes,  as  having  been  received  and 
placed  on  file,  July  4,  1835.  It  is  the  last  official  account  that  survives  of  the  fiscal  affairs  of  the 
Society.  Its  caption,  "  remaining  funds  of  the  Society,"  literally  corroborates  the  statement  of  J. 
C.  Johnson,  Cashier,  that  of  the  66  shares  of  the  Union  Bank  which  its  books  prove  to  have 
belonged  to  the  Society,  August  29,  1832,  there  remained  24,  July  4,  1835,  and  it  is  affirmative, 
that  of  the  cash  proved  to  have  been  on  hand  to  the  credit  of  the  Society,  July  4,  1832,  there 
remained $179.88  July 4th,  1835. 

Upon  these  proofs  the  conclusion  is  based  that  on  the  2gth  day  of  August,  1832,  the  fund  of 
the  Rhode  Island  Society  consisted  of  66  shares  of  Union  Bank  stock,  of  the  estimated  value  (at 
$55  per  share)  of  $3,630,  and  of  $816.65  cash  on  hand,  constituting  a  total,  presumably  referable 
to  July  4th,  1832,  of  $4,446.65,  for  which  the  Society  is  accountable.  What  became  of  it  will  be 
inquired  in  another  connection. 

The  effect  is  now  to  be  considered,  of  these  several  facts,  upon  the  status  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Society.  And  first,  the  question  occurs,  whether  the  Society  was  thereby  dissolved  ?  Th_ 
resolution  of  July  4th,  1832,  was  plainly  to  this  effect.  It  was  not,  however,  the  resolution  of  a 
quorum  authorized  to  transact  business.  Even  had  a  quor am  been  present,  it  is  questionable, 
whether  it  would  have  been  operative  against  the  practical  protest  of  a  minority  continuing  the 
functions  of  the  Society.  But  the  resolution  coupled  with  the  decision  to  dissolve,  a  direction  to 
distribute  the  funds  of  the  Society  among  its  members.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  such  supple 
mental  determination,  unexecuted,  would  constitute,  if  opposed  by  a  minority,  a  dissolution  of  the 
Society;  but  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  a  resolution  to  dissolve  and  distribute,  whether  adopted  in 
the  presence  of  a  quorum  or  not,  when  followed  by  distribution  and  acquiescence  for  a  long  term 
of  years,  would  be  an  act  of  unquestionable  dissolution. 

No  quorum  ever  assembled  after  July  4th,  1831.  Eight  members  met  July  4th,  1832,  to  dissolve 
the  Society  and  divide  the  fund,  and  eight,  July  4th,  1833,  purposely  to  enforce  the  previous 
year's  vote  of  distribution.  The  Standing  Committee  struggled  to  June  28,  1834,  and  five  mem 
bers  of  the  Society  having  met  in  Providence,  July  4th,  1835,  and  placed  on  file  the  Treasurer's 
last  report,  adjourned  to  the  next  4th  of  July  at  the  same  place. 

Thenceforward  the  Society  was  at  rest  during  forty-two  years.  Once  only  were  its  affairs 
heard  from.  It  was  at  a  Triennial  Meeting  of  the  General  Society,  May  i8th,  1872,  when  an 
inquiry  was  made  by  descendants  of  Revolutionary  officers  residing  in  Rhode  Island  and  Connec 
ticut,  whether  the  reorganization  of  defunct  Societies  required  the  permission  of  the  General 
Society.  It  is,  therefore,  concluded  that  the  Rhode  Island  Society  was  dissolved,  for  the  reasons, 
both  that  it  was  generally  considered  as  dissolved,  and  that  it  was  admitted  to  be  so,  by  those 
most  nearly  interested  in  its  fate.  Another  view  strengthens  this  conclusion.  As  has  been  stated, 
an  Act  was  procured  in  1878,  from  the  Rhode  Island  Legislature,  reviving  the  Charter  of  1814. 
If,  therefore,  the  surrender  of  the  Charter  of  Incorporation,  by  the  resolution  of  1832,  required, 
as  was  thought,  legislative  re-enactment  to  revive  the  Charter,  the  same  resolution  must  be  thought 
to  have  been  equally  efficient  to  dissolve  the  Society. 

It  is  not  believed  to  be  difficult  to  identify  the  time  of  its  dissolution,  with  that  of  the  reso 
lution  to  dissolve.  At  no  meeting  thereafter,  either  of  the  Standing  Committee  or  of  the  Society, 
does  any  business  appear  to  have  been  entertained  or  transacted  that  did  not  appertain  to  the  sale 
and  distribution  of  its  funds.  It  is  true  that  the  meeting  of  the  Standing  Committee,  August  29, 
1832,  voted  Henry  Ward  a  member  of  the  Society.  With  this  inconsiderable  exception,  its  busi 
ness  was  confined  to  the  reconstruction  and  repair  of  the  machinery  designed  by  the  resolution  for 
completing  the  distribution,  which  the  resignation  of  one  Treasurer  (Thomas  Cole),  and  the 
appointment  of  another  (John  S.  Dexter),  had  deranged. 

Its  only  two  subsequent  meetings  of  June  22,  1833,  and  June  28,  1834,  were  for  ordering  the 
annual  dinners  for  the  ensuing  Fourths  of  July.  The  meeting  of  the  Society,  July  4th,  1833, 
next  after  that  which  adopted  the  resolution  to  dissolve,  affirmed  it,  by  voting  a  rearrangement  of 
the  Committee  to  carry  it  into  effect.  On  the  4th of  Julycf  the  next  year  it  dined  at  the  Franklin 


66  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

House,  and  at  its  last  meeting,  July  4th,  1835,  it  accepted  and  approved  the  report  of  the  Treas 
urer  (John  S.  Dexter),  submitted  by  the  President  (Ephraim  Bowen),  and  agreed  to  by  Thomas 
Coles,  of  the  amount  of  cash  remaining  on  hand ;  and  the  number  of  shares  of  Bank  stock  remaining 
after  the  sale  and  distribution  of  the  balance  of  the  cash  and  Bank  stock  belonging  to  the  Society 
in  1832.  Its  business,  therefore,  transacted  subsequent  to  its  resolution  to  dissolve,  having  refer 
ence  only  to  the  enforcement  of  the  resolution,  the  date  of  its  dissolution  is,  consequently,  estab 
lished  at  July  4th,  1832. 

Whether,  having  been  dissolved,  there  is  a  power  to  revive  it  is  a  question  which  was  an 
swered  by  the  General  Society  at  its  Triennial  Meeting  in  1872,  in  these  words  : 

While  the  General  Society  "does  not  admit  the  right  of  any  State  Society  which  has  once 
had  an  existence,  and  has  since  disbanded  and  distributed  the  funds  which  was  the  main  basis  of 
their  original  organization  to  resume  its  original  status,"  yet,  it  asserts  its  power  to  authorize,  and 
accepts  the  expediency  of  entertaining  a  proposal  to  that  effect  whenever  made,  provided  that  it 
be  attended  with  certain  conditions.  These  precedent  conditions  are:  that  a  list  shall  be  furnished 
of  the  descendants  of  the  original  members,  residing  in  the  States,  who  desire  to  revive  the  organi 
zation  ;  a  previous  temporary  organization  of  the  applicants;  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  fund 
of  the  Society,  when  disbanded,  has  been  replaced,  with  simple  interest  from  the  date  of  such  dis- 
bandment;  the  reasons  of  the  disbandment,  and  the  disposition  made  of  the  funds  by  those  having 
the  control  of  them.  Some  of  these  conditions  may  be  said,  in  the  main,  to  have  been  observed 
in  the  present  instance.  With  two  of  them,  however,  there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  com 
pliance.  The  requirement  of  a  previous  temporary  organization  of  the  applicants,  is,  in  truth,  but 
a  logical  consequence  of  the  General  Society's  absolute  denial  of  "  the  right  of  any  State  Society 
which  once  had  an  existence,  and  has  since  disbanded  and  distributed  its  fund,  to  resume  its 
original  status."  Indeed,  a  primal  permanent  organization  of  the  applicants,  coupled  with  an 
admission  of  their  right,  would  not  only  supersede  the  necessity  of  permission  to  organize,  but 
break  that  continuity  of  membership  evidently  contemplated  by  the  Institution,  as  the  sole  deposi 
tory  of  the  power  created  by  the  founders  of  selecting  their  eldest  male  posterity,  who  should  be 
judged  worthy  to  bear  the  Society  forward  in  constant  succession  forever.  Yet  twelve  of  the 
eldest  lineal  descendants  of  the  original  members  of  the  Rhode  Island  Society,  unhabilitated  mem 
bers  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  assembled  in  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  December  12,  1877, 
and  did  then  and  there  organize  themselves,  by  their  unassisted  right,  into  the  Society  of  the  Cin 
cinnati  in  the  State  of  Rhode  Island. 

Thenceforth,  to  the  present  time,  has  the  organization  so  effected,  assumed  the  cognizance 
and  exercised  the  functions  of  the  defunct  Society.  The  information  previously  conveyed  to  them 
in  answer  to  their  own  application  directed  a  different  course.  It  was  five  years  before  that  in 
response  to  the  inquiry  of  the  descendants  of  Revolutionary  Officers,  residing  in  Connecticut  and 
Rhode  Island,  the  General  Society  had  instructed  them  of  their  privileges  and  the  manner  of 
obtaining  them.  These  instructions,  as  hereinbefore  stated,  were  explicit — so  explicit  indeed, 
that  your  Committee  conclude  that  a  necessity,  conceived  to  be  paramount,  must  have  supplanted 
them  with  measures  supposed  to  be  more  capable  of  the  emergency.  The  emergency  is  seen  to 
have  been  the  attempt  by  strangers  to  appropriate,  by  the  authority  of  the  Rhode  Island  Legis 
lature,  whatever  remained  of  the  funds  of  the  Rhode  Island  Society  in  the  hands  of  the  incorpor 
ation  of  1814.  It  was  successfully  met,  and  $640  of  principal  and  accumulated  interest,  on  four 
of  the  Bank  shares  belonging  to  the  Society,  August  29,  1832,  were  recovered  and  secured. 

The  esteemed  and  honorable  character  of  the  actors;  their  derivative  title  to  represent  within 
the  Cincinnati,  the  ancestral  worth  and  virtue  of  its  original  members  ;  their  persistent  efforts  to 
reconstruct,  and  their  efficient  zeal  to  aggrandize  the  Society  of  their  native  State,  may  be  accepted 
in  palliation  of  their  error,  and  entitle  them,  in  their  claim  to  have  revived  the  Rhode  Island 
Society,  to  be  heard  now  upon  the  question  of  their  compliance  with  the  only  remaining  con 
ditions,  whose  performance  has  been  prescribed  by  the  General  Society,  as  necessarily  precedent 
to  an  official  recognition  of  the  fact.  This  condition,  in  the  language  of  the  General  Society,  is 
"  that  satisfactory  evidence  has  been  presented  that  the  amount  of  the  fund  existing  at  the  time 
of  the  disbandment  of  the  Society  has  been  fully  made  up  with  simple  interest  from  the  date  of 
disbandment." 

As  we  have  seen,  the  funds  of  which  the  Society  was  possessed,  and  for  which  it  is  account 
able,  amounted  to  $4,446.65,  of  which  $3,630  consisted  of  sixty-six  shares  of  stock  in  the  Union 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  67 

Bank,  @  $55  per  share,,  and  $816.65  of  cash  in  hand  and  on  deposit.  Of  the  sixty-six  shares  of 
Bank  Stock,  four  shares,  as  hereinbefore  stated,  having  been  accounted  for,  reduces  the  deficit  to 
sixty-two  shares,  of  the  estimated  value  (@  $55  per  share)  of  $3,410. 

There  is  no  direct  evidence  that  the  cash  deposited  and  on  hand  was  distributed  among  the 
members.  It  is  true  that  the  resolution  of  1832  directed  its  distribution,  and  it  is  probable  that 
it  followed  that  direction.  It  is  also  possible  that  it  may  have  been  retained  by  the  Treasurer 
or  have  been  used  by  him  in  defraying  expenses  official  or  personal.  In  neither  case  should  the 
Society  be  held  accountable  (especially  when  question  is  made  of  its  dissolution),  for  the  possible 
remissness  of  its  officer;  and  either  case  may  be  charitably  supposed,  where  no  proof  positively 
forbids. 

The  bank  shares,  however,  fall  to  another  category.  The  books  of  the  bank  show  that 
sixty-two  of  the  sixty-six  shares  were  sold  by  the  Treasurer,  Col.  John  S.  Dexter,  from  the 
year  1832  to  1838  inclusive.  When  the  resolution  to  distribute  was  passed  July  4th,  1832, 
Col.  Ephraim  Bowen  was  President,  and  Thomas  Coles  was  Treasurer.  The  second  of  the 
resolutions  of  that  date  empowered  the  President,  Treasurer,  and  John  S.  Dexter,  to  carry 
the  preceding  resolution  of  distribution  into  effect;  and  the  third  empowered  the  Committee 
"  to  sell,  from  time  to  time,  such  and  so  many  shares  of  the  Bank  Stock  of  the  Society  as 
might  be  required  to  complete  the -entire  distribution  of  the  funds  of  the  Society."  August 
29,  1832,  Thomas  Coles  resigned,  and  a  vote  of  the  Standing  Committee,  thereunto  duly  author 
ized,  made  Col.  John  S.  Dexter  Treasurer  in  his  place.  Thereupon  the  Society,  at  its  meeting, 
July  4th,  1833,  re-organized  the  Committee,  with  the  President,  Treasurer,  and  Thomas  Coles; 
a  nominal  change  only,  because  of  the  previous  resignation,  August  29,  1832,  of  the  Treasurership 
by  Thomas  Coles;  and  the  simultaneous  accession  of  Col.  John  S.  Dexter  to  it. 

The  Committee,  in  carrying  into  effect  the  resolutions  of  distribution,  appear  uniformly  to 
have  resorted  to  the  official  agency  of  the  Treasurer,  John  S.  Dexter.  The  proof  is  positive  that, 
as  Treasurer,  he  sold  and  transferred  sixty-two  of  the  Bank  shares,  and  the  sale  of  the  sixty-two 
shares  proves  as  unerringly  that  they  were  required  to  complete  the  distribution  of  the  funds,  as 
the  omission  to  sell  the  remaining  four  shares  proves  that  they  were  not  required  for  the  purpose. 
The  obstacle  to  distributing  the  full  sixty-six  shares,  doubtless,  was  the  recalcitration  of  the  mem 
bers,  to  whom  the  four  un transferred  would  have  fallen  under  the  resolution  of  distribution. 
Were  further  proof  needed  that  distribution  followed  the  sale  of  the  Bank  shares,  it  is  to  be  found 
in  Col.  John  S.  Dexter,  the  Treasurer's,  report,  July  4th,  1835.  Having  in  September,  immediately 
after  he  became  Treasurer,  August  29,  1832,  begun  the  transfer  of  the  sixty-six  shares,  he  had 
effected  the  disposal  of  forty-two  of  them,  by  September  22,  1834.  His  report  July  4th,  1835, 
charging  himself  with  twenty-four  shares,  admits  the  transfer  of  forty-two,  and  his  omission  to 
charge  himself  with  their  avails,  proves  them  to  have  been  distributed.  The  remaining  twenty 
shares,  transferred  by  him  in  1837-1838,  evidently  followed  in  the  wake  of  the  preceding  forty- 
two;  and  the  tale  of  distribution,  under  the  resolutions  of  1832,  was,  as  far  as  possible,  complete. 

But  it  is  claimed  that  the  Treasurer  acted  without  authority.  If  so,  the  Society  should  have 
repudiated  his  action;  and  yet,  from  1832  to  1877,  during  forty-rive  years,  there  was  acquiescence 
in  it.  It  is  objected  that,  as  Treasurer,  he  was  required  to  file  a  bond;  and  that  having  neglected 
to  do  so,  his  official  acts  were  not  obligatory  on  the  Society,  and  void.  The  resolution  of  the 
Society  on  this  subject  is  to  be  found  in  its  book  of  original  minutes,  July  4,  1789,  as  follows: 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Treasurer  shall  give  bond  with  two  sureties,  in  a  penalty  (described),  to 
the  President  and  his  successors  in  office,  in  trust  for  the  Society,  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  his 
duty.  He  shall  keep  regular  accounts,  and  submit  them  to  the  inspection  of  the  Standing  Com 
mittee,  whenever  required." 

Clearly,  the  tenure  of  the  Treasurer's  office  is  not  hereby  encumbered  with  a  condition.  He 
is  simply  charged  with  a  duty.  As  well  might  it  be  reasoned  from  the  resolution,  that  the  acts  of 
the  Treasurer  would  be  void  ab  initio  if  he  failed  to  keep  regular  accounts,  and  submit  them  when 
required  to  the  inspection  of  the  Standing  Committee,  as  to  reason  that  they  would  be  void  ab 
initio  if  he  failed  to  file  the  required  bond.  These  requirements  belong  to  the  same  class.  They 
equally  are  duties  devolved  upon  the  Treasurer,  when  in  office,  and  not  conditions  precedent  to 
qualify  him  for  it.  Besides,  as  appears  from  the  minutes,  Col.  Dexter  was  treated  by  the  standing 
Committee,  and  accepted  by  the  Society,  as  Treasurer,  in  their  official  intercourse  from  August 
2gth,  1832,  the  date  of  his  election,  to  July  4th,  1835,  as  long  as  their  meetings  continued.  The 


•68  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

minute  under  date  of  his  election,  that  he  "  was  then  made  Treasurer  and  successor  of  Thomas 
Coles,"  is  unqualified  with  a  proviso;  and  that  he  was  then  considered  by  the  Standing  Committee 
as  absolutely  invested  with  the  office,  is  settled  by  their  order  of  the  same  date,  also  entered  in 
their  minutes,  that  Thomas  C.  Hopper  deliver  to  the  Treasurer,  the  books,  papers,  and  property 
of  the  Society,  and  that  the  Treasurer  give  a  receipt  for  the  same. 

The  vote  of  the  Society,  July  4th,  1833,  which,  because  of  the  resignation  of  Thos.  Coles  and 
the  concurrent  election  of  John  S.  Dexter  as  Treasurer,  retained  upon  the  previous  year's  Com 
mittee  of  Sale  and  Distribution,  the  President  and  Treasurer,  two  of  its  members,  and  for  the  same 
reason,  substituted  for  the  name  of  John  S.  Dexter  that  of  Thomas  Coles  as  the  third,  though 
designed  as  we  have  seen,  to  preserve  the  Committee,  of  the  identical  members  Ephraim  Bowen, 
Thomas  Coles,  and  John  S.  Dexter,  who  originally  composed  it,  was  in  effect,  a  distinct  recog 
nition  of  John  S.  Dexter's  plenary  title  to  the  office  of  Treasurer. 

At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Society,  July  4th,  1835,  the  adoption  of  the  report  of  the  Treasurer, 
John  S.  Dexter,  by  the  five  members  who  were  present,  proves  him  not  only  to  have  been  in  the 
unconditional  possession  of  the  office,  but  establishes  by  the  authority  of  the  meeting  which 
ordered  his  report  on  file,  as  an  approved  record  of  the  Society,  the  fact  which  he  reported, 
that  24  shares  remained  of  the  66  shares  of  Bank  stock  that  belonged  to  the  Society,  when 
three  years  before  (August  29,  1832),  he  became  its  Treasurer.  This  is  not  all  ;  of  the  five 
members  present  at  this  meeting,  Ephraim  Bowen,  the  President,  was  one  ;  for  the  report  of  the 
Treasurer,  having,  as  before  mentioned,  been  transmitted  to  him  from  Cumberland,  where  the 
Treasurer  was  physically  and  mentally  indisposed,  must  have  been  presented  to  the  meeting  by 
him,  if  presented  at  all  ;  and  that  it  was  presented,  appears  from  the  entry  in  the  minutes,  that 
"  a  statement  of  the  Treasurer's  account  up  to  this  day,  was  received  and  placed  on  file." 

A  paper  entitled  to  consideration,  from  the  conceded  familiarity  of  its  author  with  the 
archives  of  the  Rhode  Island  Society,  read  by  Asa  Bird  Gardner,  LL.D.,  before  the  Rhode  Island 
Historical  Society,  April  3Oth,  1878,  informs  us  that  not  only  was  Colonel  Ephraim  Bowen  present 
at  this  meeting,  but  Thomas  Coles  also.  Now  Ephraim  Bowen  the  President,  and  John  S.  Dexter 
the  Treasurer,  were  two  of  the  members  of  the  Committee  authorized  by  the  resolutions  of  July  4th, 
1832-1833,  to  sell  and  distribute  the  Bank  stock  of  the  Society.  Thomas  Coles  was  the  Third. 
The  report  then  having  been  prepared  and  signed  by  the  Treasurer,  presented  by  the  President, 
and  adopted  by  Thomas  Coles,  all  of  the  Committee  appear  to  have  concurred  in  the  fact  apparent 
on  its  face  that  42  shares  of  Bank  stock  had  been  sold  and  distributed.  In  other  words,  the 
Committee  authorized  by  the  Society  to  sell  and  distribute  66  shares  of  Bank  stock,  assented  to, 
and  submitted  a  report  that  24  shares  remained  of  the  66  shares  ordered  to  be  sold  and  distributed, 
and  the  report  was  accepted  and  placed  on  file. 

The  Society  thus  appears,  by  its  last  recorded  act,  July  4th,  1835,  to  ,have  approved  of  the 
Committee's  work,  done  under  the  resolutions  to  dissolve.  Indeed  beyond  the  inert  protest  of  the 
four  unsold  shares,  no  dissenting  voice  seems  ever  to  have  been  raised  against  the  sale  and  distri 
bution  of  the  fund. 

The  amount  of  the  fund,  its  distribution,  the  authority  of  the  Treasurer  to  distribute  it,  and 
acquiescence  in  its  distribution  having  been  shown,  the  necessity  of  repairing  the  act  is  next  to  be 
considered. 

The  officers  of  the  American  Army  combined  themselves  into  ONE  Society,  the  Society  of  the 
Cincinnati,  called  the  General  Society,  in  reference  to  its  division  into  State  Societies  for  the  sake 
of  frequent  communication.  It  is  not,  therefore,  a  Society  confederated  of  State  Societies,  but  an 
integral  Society,  with  divisions  within  the  States.  The  Institution,  which  is  the  organic  law  of 
the  Society,  directs  the  manner,  both  of  creating  and  disposing  of  its  funds.  They  are  declared 
to  be  permanent,  for  the  use  of  the  State  Societies  wherein  contributed,  to  the  extent  only  of  their 
interest.  They  are  dedicated  to  the  relief  of  the  unfortunate  members  of  the  Cincinnati  and  their 
families,  when  and  wherever  they  suffer.  Begotten  of  the  toil,  and  consecrated  by  the  blood  of 
the  ancestral  founders,  they  were  declared  by  them,  with  singular  solemnity,  to  be  inviolate  forever. 
Upon  this  trust  they  were  deposited  with  the  State  Societies,  and  upon  this  trust  they  hold  them; 
stewards  of  funds,  the  proprietary  right  in  which  is  with  the  Society  at  large.  It  is  plain,  there 
fore,  that  to  invade  them  or  to  divert  them  from  their  appointed  use,  is  a  breach  of  trust.  It  may 
not  be  questioned  that  in  a  Court  of  conscience  the  decree  would  be  prompt,  that  the  act  be 
redressed,  and  the  trust  fund  be  reinstated. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  69 

Nor  does  it  admit  of  doubt  to  what  tribunal  the  delinquent  is  amenable.  The  trustee  is 
accountable  to  the  author  of  the  trust  for  its  due  administration  and  management.  Having  pro 
vided  funds  and  established  their  permanence,  the  "  Institution, "after  restricting  the  proceedings 
of  the  State  Societies  to  consistency  with  its  provisions,  finally  subjects  them  to  the  revision  and 
control  of  the  General  Society  at  its  General  Meeting.  These  are  rights  which  inhere  in,  and  are 
proper  to  the  "  Institution."  The  uniform  practice  of  the  Society  has  conformed  to  them.  Its 
minutes  disclose  that  at  frequent  General  Meetings,  a  report  from  each  State  Society  has  been 
demanded  and  made,  of  the  amount  of  its  funds,  the  number  of  its  beneficiaries,  and  the  sums 
annually  distributed  among  them.  This  is  true  of  the  General  Meetings  in  1829,  1872,  and  1875; 
while  in  that  of  1878,  it  was  resolved  that  each  State  Society  should  make  such  a  report  at  every 
General  Meeting  thereafter. 

Your  Committee  is  not  ignorant  that  it  is  advanced  by  those  who  claim  to  have  revived  the 
Rhode  Island  Society,  that  its  enforcement  of  a  by-law,  which  excludes  from  membership  the 
descendant  of  any  of  those  to  whom  the  funds  of  the  Society  were  distributed,  until  full  restitution 
made  of  principal  and  interest,  is  a  sufficient  expiation  of  the  offence.  It  is  answered  that  the 
offence  was  not  committed  against  the  Society,  but  by  it;  and  further,  that  if  exclusion  from 
membership  is  judged  by  the  State  Society  to  be  due  to  those  whose  ancestors  partook  of  the 
distributed  funds,  it  is  worth  considering  whether  it  would  be  unjust  that  the  General  Society 
should  exclude  from  affiliation  the  State  Society  under  whose  authority  the  distribution  was  made, 
until  principal  and  interest  of  the  funds  distributed  be  restored. 

Finally,  it  may  be  said,  that  the  principle  involved  and  the  restitution  claimed  are  fully 
affirmed  in  the  recovery  and  restitution  by  the  applicants  to  their  permanent  fund,  of  the  four 
shares  of  Union  Bank  stock,  and  accumulated  interest.  These  four  went  with  the  sixty-two  to 
make  up  the  sixty-six  shares  of  the  Society  in  1832,  and  were  justly  recovered  from  those  who  held 
them  without  authority  or  right.  The  distribution  of  the  sixty-two  shares  was  equally  without 
authority  or  right ;  and  as  the  restoration  of  the  four  shares  and  their  interest  to  the  permanent 
fund  was  thought  necessary  and  right  to  revive  the  Society,  it  is  impossible  that  the  restitution  of 
the  sixty-two  shares  and  their  interest,  for  the  same  purpose,  should  be  thought  to  be  unnecessary 
and  wrong. 

The  Committee  are  satisfied  that  many,  if  not  all,  of  the  gentlemen  who  participated  in  the 
proceedings  to  resuscitate  the  Rhode  Island  Society,  are  inaccessible,  either  they  or  their  ances 
tors,  to  the  reproach  of  having  partaken  in  the  distribution  of  the  fund  of  the  Society. 

JOHN  COCHRANE, 

Chairman. 


List  of  the  descendants  of  original  members  of  the  Cincinnati  Society  in  the  State  of  Rhode 
Island,  who,  December  12,  1878,  organized  themselves  into  a  Society,  claimed  to  be  the  reinsti- 
tution  of  the  original  Society  : 

Joseph  F.  Arnold,  Hon.  James  M.  Clark,  John  Wanton.  Lyman, 

Sam'l  C.  Blodget,  Hon.  Nath'l  Green,  Wm.  Rensiter, 

Wm.  Wallace  Brown,  Simon  Henry  Green,  Dr.  Henry  E.  Turner, 

Thos.  V.  Carr,  Dr.  David  King,  James  M.  Varnum. 

On  motion,  the  above  reports  were  accepted  and  ordered  to  be  entered  on 
the  minutes. 

Mr.  Hamilton  moved  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  in  the  State  of  Rhode  Island 
and  Providence  Plantations,  be  received,  and  in  due  order  of  succession  be 
restored  to  its  legitimate  functions  under  the  Constitution  of  the  Society,  when 
ever,  within  three  years,  the  value  of  sixty-two  shares  of  the  Union  Bank  of 
Providence,  Rhode  Island,  at  fifty-five  dollars  per  share,  which  it  possessed  when 
it  dissolved,  with  simple  interest  thereon  at  —  per  cent.,  from  July  4th,  1832, 


7O  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

the  date  of  its  dissolution,  to   May  22d,  1878,  the  date  of  its  application  to  be 
received,  be  restored  to  its  permanent  fund. 

Resolved  further,  That  said  Society  is  not  to  be  considered  as  received,  nor 
delegates  therefrom  to  the  General  Society  as  entitled  to  be  received,  until  the 
performance  of  the  above  named  condition,  within  the  time  above  named,  duly 
certified  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  President-General. 

Mr.  Lowndes  moved  to  lay  the  resolution  on  the  table.  A  vote  by  States 
being  called  for  resulted  as  follows  : 

Ayes.  Nays. 

Massachusetts, 5  votes. 

New  York, 5  votes. 

New  Jersey, 5  votes. 

Pennsylvania, 5  votes. 

Maryland, 5  votes. 

South  Carolina, 5  votes. 

The  President-General, i  vote. 

The  Secretary-General, i  vote. 

The  Treasurer-General, i  vote. 

The  Assistant  Secretary-General,  .     .     i  vote. 


21 


So  the  Resolution  was  laid  on  the  table.* 


Mr.  Lowndes  offered  the  following  Resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Rhode  Island  Society  be  admitted  to  full  membership  as 
Cincinnati,  that  the  delegates  present  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and  powers 
appertaining  to  such  office. 

A  vote  by  States  being  called  for,  resulted  as  follows  : 


Ayes, 

Massachusetts, 

New  York, 

New  Jersey, 5  votes. 

Pennsylvania, 5  votes. 

Maryland,        5  votes. 

South  Carolina, 5  votes. 

The  President-General, 

The  Secretary-General, 

The  Treasurer-General, 

The  Assistant  Secretary-General,  .     .     i  vote. 


Nays. 
5  votes. 
5  votes. 


i  vote, 
i  vote, 
i  vote. 


21 


The  Resolution  was  thus  adopted. 


*  This  is  the  first  instance  in  the  history  of  the  Society  of  a  similar  resolution  being  offered,  or  of  discussion 
and  debate  being  refused  on  a  proposition  submitted  to  its  consideration. 


NATHANAEL    GREENE,    M.  D.,  L  L.  D. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  71 

The  delegates  appointed  by  the  Rhode  Island  Society  were 
HON.  NATHANAEL  GREENE,  DR.  DAVID  KING,' 

PROF.  ASA  BIRD  GARDNER,  LL.D.,  U.  S.  A.,         DR.  HENRY  EDWARD  TURNER, 
HON.  WILLIAM  WARNER  HOPPIN, 

And  alternates 

HON.   DANIEL  WANTON  LYMAN,  JAMES  M.  VARNUM,  ESQ., 

SAMUEL  CHASE  BLODGET,  ESQ.,  HON.   HORATIO  ROGERS, 

HENRY  THAYER  DROWNE,  ESQ. 

There  being  present 

HON.  NATHANAEL  GREENE,  PROF.  ASA  BIRD  GARDNER, 

DR.   HENRY  E.  TURNER,  JAMES  M.  VARNUM,  ESQ. 

General  Cochrane  moved  that  that  portion  of  his  report  which  refers  to  the 
right  of  re-admission  of  State  Societies  in  general  (being  based  upon  a  Resolution 
on  that  subject,  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  the  Society  held  at  Boston  in  1872),  be 
reaffirmed  as  the  sense  of  the  Society. 

Rev.  Dr.  Beatty  moved  to  lay  the  Resolution  on  the  table,  which  was 
adopted,  and  the  Resolution  was  thus  laid  on  the  table. 


72  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

APPENDIX. 

(See  ante,  page  20.) 

GENERAL    HEATH'S    LETTER    RENOUNCING    THE    SOCIETY   OF    THE 

CINCINNATI. 

ROXBURY,  January  i8th,   1793.* 

DEAR  SIR:  When  all  Europe  have  their  eyes  fixed  on  France,  and  every  one  who  reveres 
the  rights  of  man  is  admiring  the  magnanimous  conduct  of  the  French,  I  was  the  other  day  most 
sensibly  affected  on  reading  the  account  of  the  conduct  of  General  DUMOURIER,  when  he  presented 
himself  to  the  National  Convention  in  the  month  of  October  last.  This  officer,  whose  military  and 
literary  talents  place  him  in  a  most  conspicuous  light,  and  who  cannot  but  possess  the  most  refined 
sentiments  of  honor  as  well  as  exquisite  feelings  for  those  marks  of  approbation  which  are  con 
ferred  on  distinguished  merit,  than  which  nothing  can  be  dearer  to  a  soldier.  Yet,  this  great  and 
celebrated  Citizen  General,  in  the  presence  of  that  August  Assembly,  took  the  Cross  of  St.  Louis 
from  his  breast,  and  made  an  offering  of  it  at  the  Shrine  of  Liberty,  thereby  indicating  that  he 
disdained  to  wear  among  a  free  and  equal  people  any  mark  of  distinction,  evidenced  by  an  order  or 
device,  which  could  be  construed  repugnant  to  liberty  and  equality. 

If  the  Cross  of  St.  Louis,  long  worn  in  France  as  an  emblem  of  the  distinguished  merit  of  the 
wearer,  is  judged  by  this  great  man  as  improper  to  be  worn  in  a  Republick,  how  can  I,  a  citizen  of 
the  renowned  Ametican  Republick,  allow  my  name  to  stand  affixed  to  an  institution,  or  wear  a 
device  which  is  construed  by  many  of  our  fellow  citizens  the  indication  of  an  order  and  distinction 
in  society.  Animated  by  this  recent  example  of  the  Gallic  Citizen  General,  I  do  hereby  request 
that  you  will  be  pleased  to  erase  my  name  from  the  institution  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  as 
I  do  from  this  moment  for  myself,  renounce  the  institution:  at  the  same  time  I  pray  you  be 
assured,  that  affection,  and  esteem,  for  every  brother  officer  of  the  late  American  Army  will  con 
tinue  to  possess  a  warm  corner  of  my  heart,  too  deeply  impressed  to  be  effaced,  or  to  stand  in  need 
of  the  aid  of  any  device,  or  institution,  as  remembrancers. 

While  we  are  celebrating  in  high  festivity  the  conduct  and  success  of  our  French  friends,  let 
us,  if  not  already  practising,  imitate  such  of  their  examples  as  appear  to  be  evidently  marked  with 
propriety,  and  calculated  to  establish  those  principles  which  form  the  permanent  basis  of  a  genuine 
Republick.  With  sentiments  of  respect  and  esteem, 

I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Dear  Sir, 

Your  most  obedient  Servant, 

W.   HEATH. 
Hon'ble  HENRY  KNOX,  Esquire, 

Secretary  to  the  General  Society 

of  the  Cincinnati. 


*  The  date  of  this  remarkable  letter  is  coincident  with  that  on  which  the  National  Convention  (in  France)  was 
counting  its  votes  on  the  decree  of  death  to  Louis  XVI. 

About  the  same  time,  General  Dumourier,  who  had  so  greatly  excited  the  ebullient  enthusiasm  of  General 
Heath,  had  already  begun  to  waver  in  attachment  to  the  cause  which  he  had  been  profuse  in  commending;  .and 
within  a  few  weeks  of  the  date  of  the  letter  he  contracted  what  M.  Thiers  mildly^calls  "guilty  engagements" 
with  the  allied  enemies  of  France.  The  "Convention"  set  a  price  on  his  head,  and  he  took  refuge  in  the  camp 
of  the  Austrians.  After  wandering  long  in  exile  he  settled  in  England,  whose  Government  conferred  on  him  a  pension. 
He  died  at  Turville  Park,  i4th  March,  1823,  in  the  84th  year  of  his  age.  M.  Thiers  speaks  of  him  "a  superior 
"  man — without  attachment  to  any  cause — without  principle — fifty  years  of  whose  life  were  spent  in  Court  intrigues, 
"  and  thirty  in  exile,  while  only  three  were  occupied  on  a  theatre  worthy  of  his  genius."  Mad.  Roland  says,  he 
was  "good  humoured  with  his  friends,  and  ready  to  cheat  every  one  of  them." 

Major-General  Heath  was  born  in  Roxbury,  Mass.,  2d  March,  1737,  and  died  there  24th  January,  1814. 


7 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  73 


COLONEL  DU  BOUCHET  SHOWS  THE  APPRECIATION    OF  THE  SOCIETY  BY 
THE  ALLIED  OFFICERS,   IN  A   REQUEST  GRANTED  MAY  lyrn,   1784. 


(See  ante,  page  38.) 

PARIS.  February  17  1784 
DR  GENERAL  I  have  experienced  so  much  your  goodness  to    me  that  as  long  as  I  will 

live  I  will  always  rely  upon  your  friendship  and   reccolect  with  the  sense  of  the  most  lively 

gratitude  all  the  many  obligations  I  lay  under,  since  the  first  day  I   had   the  happiness  to  be 

acquainted  with  you. 

I    ardently  entreat  you  to  be  favorable  to  my  petition  for  being  admitted  amongst  the 

defenders  and  settlers  of  American  Libertys  reunited  in  the  Society  of  Cincinnatus. 

Since  1776  that  I  embarked  for  America  until  the  year  1778,  that  on  account  of  the  badness 
of  my  health  I  returned  to  France,  I  have  been  with  your  satisfaction  of  my  services  employed 
for  the  American  cause,  and  as  I  have  been  nominated  D  A  Gen  of  the  French  auxelliery 
Army  in  March  1780  and  remained  so  until  1783.  I  have  always  been  since  1776  an  American 
officer  or  an  auxilliery  one,  however  I  have  not  the  honour  to  be  a  member  of  your  Military 
Society.  Please  D""  General,  to  protect  my  pretension  on  this  important  circumstance.  I 
am  the  only  Frenchman  who  was  at  both  of  the  two  glorious  actions  at  Saratoga  and  Yorktown. 
Two  thousand  gueneas  would  not  be  so  agreeable  to  me  as  this  honorable  reward  of  my  services. 
I  was  ready  to  embark  for  America  for  soliciting  it  myself,  Marquis  de  La  fayette's  advices  hin 
dered  me  to  do  it.  I  intend  to  go  and  thank  you  for  this  favour,  if  I  am  so  happy  as  to  obtain  it. 
Please  my  Dear  General,  to  speak  in  my  favour  at  the  Assembly  of  May,  or  you  can  not  do  it  to 
write  accordingly  to  my  wishes,  for  having  that  favour  granted  to  me.  If  you  do  it  successfully 
you'll  make  me  happy. 

General  Conway  is  Major  General,  for  my  part  I  am  Ll  Colonel,  D.  A.  G1  of  the  Army,  and 
Knight  of  St  Louis.  But  without  the  order  of  the  Cincinnatus  there  is  no  happiness  for  me. 
*.  #  #  * 

Believe  me  forever  Your  friend  and  devoted  servant  and  admirer 

LE   CHEVALIER  DU  BOUCHET 

a  Auxerre.  Bourgogne. 
The  honorable  G'al  Gates 

favored  by  his  ExcX  Gen.  Washington. 


Enclosed  to  Washington  and  forwarded  by  Gordon,  the  Historian ,  -with  this  note  :  "  Brought  from  Gen. 
Washington's  house  by  William  Gordon  the  day  after  the  General  received  it.'"  Original  in  Dr.  Thomas 
Addis  Emmet's  Collection  of  Historical  Manuscripts. 


74  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

OFFICERS 

OF     THE 

GENERAL     SOCIETY 


PRESIDENTS  GENERAL. 

1783.  GEORGB  WASHINGTON,  of  Virginia.  1839.  MORGAN  LEWIS,  of  New  York. 

1 800.     ALEXANDER  HAMILTON,  of  New  York.  1844.  WILLIAM  POPHAM,  of  New  York. 

1805.     CHARLES  'COTESWORTH     PINCKNEY,    of    South  1848.  HENKY    ALEXANDER    SCAMMEL   DEARBORN,   of 

Carolina.  Massachusetts. 

1825.     THOMAS  PINCKNEY,  of  South  Carolina.  1854.  HAMILTON  FISH,  of  New  York.  • 
1829.     AARON  OGDEN,  of  New  Jersey. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS  GENERAL. 

1784.  HORATIO  GATES,  of  Virginia.  1839.  WILLIAM  SHUTE,  of  New  Jersey. 
1787.     THOMAS  MIFFLIN,  of  Pennsylvania.  1844.  HORACE  BINNEY,  of  Pennsylvania. 

1799.  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON,  of  New  York.  1848.  HAMILTON  FISH,  of  New  York. 

1800.  CHARLES    COTESWORTH    PINCKNEY,    of     South  1854.  CHARLES  STEWART  DAVEIS,  of  Massachusetts. 

Carolina.  1866.  JAMES  WARREN  SEVER,  of  Massachusetts. 

1805.     HENRY  KNOX,  of  Massachusetts.  1872.  JAMES  SIMONS,  of  South  Carolina. 

1811.     JOHN  BROOKS,  of  Massachusetts.  1881.  WILLIAM  ARMSTRONG  IRVINE,  M.  D,  of  Penn- 
1825.     AARON  OGDEN,  of  New  Jersey.                                                      sylvania. 
1829.     MORGAN  LEWIS,  of  New  York. 

SECRETARIES  GENERAL. 

1783.  HENRY  KNOX,  of  Massachusetts.  ^75.  GEORGE  WASHINGTON  HARRIS,  of  Pennsylvania 
1799.     WILLIAM  JACKSON,  of  Pennsylvania.                                                 (formerly  of  Maryland). 

1829.     ALEXANDER  W.  JOHNSTON,  of  Pennsylvania.  T884.  ASA  BIRD  GARDINER,  of  Rhode  Island. 

1857.     THOMAS  McEuEN,  of  Pennsylvania. 

ASSISTANT  SECRETARIES  GENERAL. 

1784.  OTHO  HOLLAND  WILLIAMS,  of  Maryland.  1829.  THOMAS  McEuEN,  of  Pennsylvania. 

1787.     GEORGE  TURNER,  of  South  Carolina.  1857.  GEORGE  WASHINGTON  HARRIS,  of  Pennsylvania 

1790.     WILLIAM  McPHERSON,  of  Pennsylvania.  (formerly  of  Maryland). 

1799.     NATHAN  DORSEY,  of  Pennsylvania.  1875.  RICHARD   IRVING  MANNING,  of  Maryland  (for- 

1802.     WILLIAM  DENT  BEALL,  of  Maryland.  merly  of  South  Carolina). 

1825.     JOHN  MARKLAND,  of  Pennsylvania. 

TREASURERS  GENERAL. 

1783.     ALEXANDER  McDouGALL,  of  New  York.  1832.  JOHN  MARKLAND,  of  Pennsylvania. 

1796.     WILLIAM  JACKSON,  of  Pennsylvania.  1838.  JOSEPH  WARREN  SCOTT,  of  New  Jersey. 

1799.     WILLIAM  McPHF.RSON,  of  Pennsylvania.  1872.  TENCH  TILGHMAN,  of  Maryland. 

1825.     ALLAN  McLANE,  of  Pennsylvania  (formerly  of  1875.  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON,  Jr.,  of  New  York. 

Delaware).  1881.  JOHN   SCHUYLER,  of  New  York. 

ASSISTANT  TREASURERS  GENERAL. 

1825.     ALEXANDER  W.  JOHNSTON,  of  Pennsylvania.  1851.  JOHN  H.  MARKLAND,  of  Pennsylvania. 

1829.     JOHN  MARKLAND,  of  Pennsylvania.  1863.  JOHN  McDowELL,  of  New  Jersey. 

1832.     JOSEPH  WARREN  SCOTT,  of  New  Jersey.  1872.  WILLIAM  BERRIAN  DAYTON,  of  New  Jersey. 

1838.     WILLIAM  JACKSON,  of  Pennsylvania.  1881.  HERMAN  BURGIN,  M.  D.,  of  New  Jersey. 


THE      TRANSACTIONS 


NEW  YORK  STATB  SOCIETY, 


WITH    ANNOTATIONS   BY    THE   SECRETARY 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


77 


OFFICERS 


NEW     YORK     STATE     SOCIETY 


1783.  ALEXANDER  McDoucALL. 

1786.  BARON  STEUBEN. 

1794.  GEORGE  CLINTON. 

J795-  WILLIAM  STEPHENS  SMITH. 

1797.  NICHOLAS  FISH. 

1804.  WILLIAM  STEPHENS  SMITH. 


1783.  GEORGE  CLINTON. 

1785.  BARON  STEUBEN. 

1786.  PHILIP  SCHUYLER. 
1788.  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 
*793-  JAMES  WATSON. 

1794.  WILLIAM  STEPHENS  SMITH 

1795.  NICHOLAS  FISH. 
1797.  AQUILA  GILES. 
1804.  EBENEZER  STEVENS. 
1824.  MORGAN  LEWIS. 


1783.  BENJAMIN  WALKER. 

1784.  JAMES  FAIRLIE. 

1785.  ROBERT  PEMBERTON. 
1788.  JOHN  STAGG,  Jr. 

1790.  WILLIAM  STEPHENS  SMITH 

1791.  WILLIAM  W.  MORRIS. 

1793.  JAMES  M.  HUGHES. 

1794.  ABRAHAM  HARDENHURGH. 

1795.  BERNARDUS  SWARTWOUT. 
1800.  JOHN  STAGG,  Jr. 

1803.  WILLIAM  STEPHENS  SMITH 

1804.  WILLIAM  POPHAM. 

1805.  JOSEPH  HARDY. 


PRESIDENTS. 

ELECTED. 

\LL.                                     1805. 

NICHOLAS  FISH. 

I806. 

RICHARD  VARICK. 

1832. 

MORGAN  LEWIS. 

MITII.                                 1844. 

WILIAM  POPHAM. 

1848. 

ANTHONY  LAMB. 

MITII.                                 1855. 

HAMILTON  FISH. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

ELECTED. 

1832. 

NICHOLAS  FISH. 

i?33- 

JOHN  TRUMBULL. 

1838. 

ABRAHAM  LEGGETT. 

)N.                                            1842.    ' 

WILLIAM  POPHAM. 

1844. 

ANTHONY  LAMB. 

MITII.                                 1848. 

HORATIO  GATES  STEVENS. 

1855. 

EDWARD  P.  DE  MARCELLIN. 

1857. 

RICHARD  VARICK  DE  WITT. 

1862. 

WILLIAM  3.  POPHAM. 

1885. 

ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

SECRETARIES. 

ELECTED 

1810. 

BENJAMIN  LEDVARD. 

I8l3. 

HENRY  S.  DODGE. 

1816. 

DANIEL  E.  DUNSCOMB. 

1826. 

CHARLES  GRAHAM. 

MITII.                                 1838. 

CHARLES  A.  CLINTON. 

1843- 

EDWARD  I'.  DE  MARCELLIN. 

1855. 

ALEXANDER  B.   THOMPSON. 

RGH.                                       1859. 

GEORGE  W.   BLEECKER. 

3UT.                                        i860. 

WILLIAM  S.   POPHAM. 

1862. 

REV.  MARINUS  WILLETT. 

IMITH.                       1866. 

WILLIAM  IRVING  GRAHAM. 

1872. 

REV.  MARINUS  WILLETT. 

1879. 

JOHN  SCHUYLER. 

ELECTED. 

1783.  PHILIP  VAN  CORTLANDT 

1788.  RICHARD  PLATT. 

1791.  EDWARD  DUNSCOMB. 

1793.  ABIJAH  HAMMOND. 

1794.  THEODOSIUS  FOWLER. 
1796.  LEONARD  BLIOECKER. 
1816.  JONATHAN  BURRALL. 
1820.  THEODOSIUS  FOWLER. 


TREASURERS. 

ELECTED. 

1842.  ANTHONY  LAMB. 

1844.  HAMILTON  FISH. 

1855.  HENRY  HALL  WARD. 

!873.  JOHN  TORREY  (acting). 

1874.  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON,  Jr. 

1881.  WILLIAM   HENRY  CROSBY. 

1883.  ALEXANDER  JAMES  CLINTON. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


ASSISTANT  TREASURERS. 


1783.  NICHOLAS  FISH. 

1785.  RICHARD  PLATT. 

1788.  EDWARD  DUNSCOMB. 

1793.  LEONARD  BLEECKER. 

1794.  BERNARDUS  SWARTWOUT,  Jr. 

1795.  LEONARD  BLEECKER. 

1796.  JOSEPH  HARDY. 
1805.  JAMES  FAIRLIE. 
1807.  JOHN    KEESE. 
1809.  JONAS  ADDOMS. 


ELECTED. 

1828.  ANTHONY  LAMB. 

1842.  WILLIAM  B.  CROSBY. 

1850.  THEODOSIUS  FOWLER. 

1862.  JOHN  TORREY. 

I&73-  JOHN  WHEELWRIGHT  GREATON 

(acting). 

1874.  HERBERT  GRAY  TORREY. 

1878.  WILLIAM  HENRY  CROSBY. 

1881.  EDWARD  WILLIAM  TAPP. 


CHAPLAINS. 


1847.     REV.  LEWIS  P.  BALCH,  T),T).(honoraty)*     1880.    REV.  MARINUS  WILLETT,  D.D. 
1857.     REV.  MANCIUS  SMEDES  HUTTON,  D.D.       1881.    REV.  MANCIUS  HOLMES  HUTTON,  D.D. 


PHYSICIANS. 


ELECTED. 

1857.     ALEXANDER  CLINTON,  M.D. 


ELECTED. 

1878.     JOHN  F.  GRAY,  M.D. 


*  The  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  E.  Vermilye  officiated  in  the  absence  of  Dr.  Balch. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


79 


ROLL     OF     MEMBERS 


NEW     YORK      STATE      SOCIETY, 


AS    RETURNED    TO    THE    GENERAL    SOCIETY    IN    MAY    1784. 


OFFICERS   FOR  1783  AND  1784. 

Major-General  ALEXANDER   McDouGALL President. 

His  Excellency  Major-General  GEORGE  CLINTON Vice-President. 

Colonel  PHILIP  VAN  CORTLANDT Treasurer. 

Lieut. -Colonel  BENJAMIN  WALKER Secretary. 

Lieut. -Colonel  NICHOLAS  FISH Assistant  'Leasurer. 

DELEGATES  TO  THE  GENERAL  MEETING. 


Colonel  PHILIP  VAN  CORTLANDT, 
Lieut. -Colonel  NICHOLAS  FISH, 


Lieut. -Colonel  WILLIAM  S.  SMITH, 
Captain  JAMES  FAIRLIE. 


NEW  YORK  ARTILLERY  (2d   Regular). 


Colonel  JOHN  LAMB  (Brig.-Gen.) 
Lieut. -Colonel  EBENEZER  STEVENS. 
Major  SEBASTIAN  BEAUMAN. 
Captain  ANDREW  MOODIE. 
"        JOHN  DOUGHTY. 
"        THOMAS  MACHIN. 
"        GEORGE  FLEMING. 
"        JACOB  REED. 
Capt.-Lieutenant  EPHRAIM  FENNO. 

CORNELIUS  SWARTVVOUT. 
ISAAC  HUBBELL. 
JACOB  KEMPER. 
"  ISAAC  GUION. 

CALEB  BREWSTER. 
"  PETER  NESTELL. 


Lieutenant  MICHAEL  WETZELL. 

JOHN  SHAW. 
"  JAMES  BRADFORD. 

JOHN  REED. 

HENRY  CUNNINGHAM. 

ISAAC  SMITH. 

PETER  ANSPACH. 
"  HENRY  DEMLER. 

GEORGE  LEAYCRAFT. 

WILLIAM  LEAYCRAFT. 
"  WILLIAM  STRACHAN. 

JAMES  GILES. 
"  JONAS  ADDOMS. 

"  ROBERT  BURNET,  Jr. 

"  WILLIAM  WALTON  MORRIS. 

JOHN  SMITH. 


2(1  NEW  YORK  REGIMENT. 


Colonel  PHILIP  VAN  CORTLANDT  (Brig.-Gen.) 
Lieut. -Colonel  ROBERT  COCHRAN. 
Major  NICHOLAS  FISH  (Lieut.-Col.) 
Captain   SAMUEL  T.  PELL  (Major). 

"        JOHN  F.  HAMTRAMCK  (Major.) 

"        JONATHAN  HALLETT  (Major). 

"        ISRAEL  SMITH  (Major). 

"        THEODOSIUS  FOWLER. 

"        HENRY  VANDERBURGH. 

"        BENJAMIN  WALKER  (Lieut.-Col.^ 

"        HENRY  PAULING. 

"        JACOB  WRIGHT. 
Lieutenant  SAMUEL  DODGE. 
JAMES  FAIRLIE. 

"  CHARLES  F.  WEISSENFELS. 

JAMES  JOHNSON. 


Lieutenant  SAMUEL  TALLMADGE. 
"  DANIEL  DENISTON. 

"  CHRISTOPHER  HUTTON  (Adjt.) 

"  MICHAEL  CONNOLLY  (P.  M.) 

"  RUDOLPH  VAN  HOEVENBARGH. 

"  EPHRAIM  WOODRUFF. 

"  JOSEPH  FRILICK. 

Ensign  BERNARDUS  SWARTWOUT. 

"      NEHEMIAH  CARPENTER. 

"       SAMUEL  DODGE. 

"      BARTHOLOMEW  VANDERBURGH. 

"         DlRCK  SCHUYLER. 

li  WILLIAM  PETERS. 
Surgeon  DANIEL  MENEMA. 
Surgeon's  Mate — ABNER  PRIOR. 


80  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


1st  NEW  YORK  REGIMENT. 

Colonel  GOOSE  VAN  SCHAICK  (Brig.-Gen.)  Lieutenant  JOHN  FI-RMAN. 

Lieut. -Colonel  CORNELIUS  VAN  DYCK.  "            ABRAHAM  HARDENBERGH. 

Major  JOHN  GRAHAM.  HENRY  VAN  WOERT  (Q.  M.) 

Captain  AARON  AORSON  (Major).  '•            JACOB  H.  WENDEI.I.  (Affj't.} 

"        HENRY  TIEBOUT.  BENJAMIN  GILBERT. 

"        LEONARD  BLEECKER.  "            JOSIAH  BAGLEY. 

"        JAMFS  GREGG.  Ensign  JOHN  MARSH. 

"        JOHN  C.  TENBROECK.  "      JOHN  FONDEY. 

CHARLES  PARSONS.  "      GARRETT  LANSING. 

"        GEORGE  SYTEZ.  "       ROBERT  WILSON. 

"        CORNELIUS  T.  JANSEN.  "      BENJAMIN  HERRING. 

Lieutenant  PETER  MAGEE.  "      Douw  T.  FONDEY. 

"           JEREMIAH\'AN  RENSSELAER^.  .-I/.)  "      ADAM  TENDROECK. 

"           F.I'HRAIM  SNOW.  "      JOSEPH  MORRELL. 

WILHELMUS  RYCKMAN.  Surgeon  CALEB  SWEET. 

"           SAMUEL  LEWIS.  Surgeon's  Mate — JOHN  ELLIOT. 


OFFICERS  BELONGING  TO  DIFFERENT  CORPS. 

Captain  DANIEL  NIVEN,  Engineers. 

ROBERT  PEMBERTON,  Spencer's  jth  N.  J. 
"        PETER  VOSBUROUGH,  James  Livingston's  Regiment. 
"        JOHN  GREEN,  U.  S.  Navy. 

Lieutenant  DUNCAN  CAMPBELL,  Colonel  Livingston's  Regiment. 
"  DANIEL  McLANE,  Massachusetts  Artillery. 

"  WILLIAM  PRICE,  Massachusetts  Artillery. 

"          JOHN  STAKE,  Van  Heer's  Light  Dragoons. 
Captain  Lieutenant  ANDREW  ENGLIS,  ist  Massachusetts  Regiment. 
Lieutenant  THOMAS  FREDERICK  JACKSON,  Sheldon's  ad  Regular  Light  Dragoons. 
Captain  PETER  TAULMAN,  Sappers  and  Miners. 
STEPHEN  GRAHAM,  Hospital  Mate. 


OFFICERS  WHO  HAVE  RESIGNED  OR  BEEN  DERANGED. 

Colonel  PETER  GANSEYOORT,  3d  New  York (Deranged). 

Lieut. -Colonel  FREDERICK  WEISSENFELS,  4th  New  York (Deranged  1770.     Served  four  years.) 

PIERRE  REGNIER  DE  Roussv,  2d  New  York (Resigned  1780.     Served  five  years.) 

M ARIN  us  WILLETT,  sth  New  York   (Deranged.     Served  five  years.) 

SAMUEL  HAY,  Pennsylvania (Served  five  years.) 

JOHN  CONWAY,  ist  New  Jersey (Resigned  1781.     Served  five  years.) 

Major  BENJAMIN  LEDYARD,  ist  New  York (Resigned  1779.     Served  four  years.) 

"      SAMUEL  LOGAN,  sth  New  York (Deranged.) 

Captain  HENRY  Du  Bois,  2d  New  York (Resigned  4th  Nov.,  1782.     Served  seven  years.) 

"         CHARLES  GRAHAM,  3d  New  York (Deranged  1780.     Served  six  years.) 

"         ELIHU  MARSHALL,  2d  New  York (Deranged  1780.     Served  five  years.) 

"        JAMES  STEWART (Deranged  1780.     Served  five  years.) 

"        JAMES  GILLILAND,  Sappers  and  Miners (Resigned  gth  Oct.,  1782.     Served  six  years.) 

"         EDWARD  DUNSCOMB,  4th  New  York (Deranged  3ist  Dec.,  1780.     Served  four  years.) 

Captain-Lieutenant  DANIEL  PARKER,  Jr.,  3d  Massachusetts (Resigned  1779.     Served  four  years.) 

JOHN  WALDRON,  2d  Regiment  of  Artillery.  .(Resigned  1782.     Served  si^ years.) 

Lieutenant  GEORGE  I.  DENNISTON,  3d  New  York (Deranged  1780.     Served  4  years.) 

WILLIAM  TAPP,  3d  New  York .(Deranged  1780.     Served  four  years.) 

THOMAS  HUNT,  4th  New  York (Resigned  1779.  *  Served  four  years.) 

WILLIAM  BELKNAP,  4th  New  York (Deranged  1779.     Served  five  years.) 

JOSEPH  FOOT,  ist  Massachusetts (Resigned  6th  July,  1782.     Served  seven  years. ) 

CHRISTOPHER  CODWISE,  2d  New  York (Deranged  1780.     Served  six  years.) 

ABRAHAM  LEGGETT,  sth  New  York (Served  four  years.) 

FRANCIS  HANMOR,  2d  New  York. 

JOHN  DUTTON  CRIMSHEIR,  Paymaster  Colonel  Lamb's  Artillery. 

Physician  and  Surgeon— Doctor  THOMAS  TILLOTSON (Resigned  1780.     Served  four  years.) 

Surgeon  JOHN  FRANCIS  VACHER,  4th  New  York (Deranged  1781.     Served  five  years.) 

GARRETT  VAN  WAGENEN,  Sth  Pennsylvania. 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  THE  CINCINNATI.  8l 

GENERAL  AND  STAFF  OFFICERS  AND  OFFICERS  BELONGING  TO  NO  PARTICULAR  CORPS. 

Major-General  ALEXANDER  McDouoALL. 

His  Excellency  GEORGE  CLINTON. 

Brigadier-General  JAMES  CLINTON.  . 

Colonel  WILLIAM  STEPHENS  SMITH. 

Lieut. -Colonel  AQUILA  GILES. 

RICHARD  PLATT. 

Major  and  Aid-de-Camp  RANALD  STEPHEN  MC!)OUGALL. 
Lieut.-Colonel  RICHARD  VARICK,  Deputy  Muster-Master  General. 
Major  MATTHEW  CLARKSON. 

Honorable  JOHN  LAURANCE,  y^o^  Advocate-General  of  the  U.  S.  A. 
Doctor  JOHN  COCHRAN,  Director  of  the  Military  Hospital. 

"       ROBERT  JOHNSTON,  Physician  of  the  General  Hospital. 
Colonel  SIMEON  DE  WITT,  Geographer  to  the  Army. 
Reverend  JOHN  GANO,  Chaplain  Ne^v  York  Brigade. 
Major-General  PHILIP  SCHUYLER. 
Colonel  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

PHILADELPHIA,   June   i2th,    1879. — Copied   from  the   original  list  now  in 
possession  of  the  Secretary  General. 

JOHN  SCHUYLER,  Secretary,  N.  Y. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  83 

ROLL     OF     MEMBERS 

OF     THE 

NEW     YORK     STATE     SOCIETY, 

• 

AS    RETURNED    TO    THE    GENERAL    SOCIETY    IN    MAY,     1788. 


The  Honorable  Major-General  BARON  STEUBEN President.* 

"  PHILIP  SCH u YLER Vice-President '. 

"  Brigadier-General  PHILIP  COKTLANDT Treasurer. 

Major  RICHARD  PLATT Assistant  Treasurer. 

Captain  ROBERT  PEMBERTON Secretary. 

Hon.  Major-General  JAMES  CLINTON.  Captain  CHARLES  PARSONS. 

Lieut. -Colonel  NICHOLAS  FISH.  Ensign  BENJAMIN  HERRING. 

Captain  SAMUEL  T.  PELL.  Captain  GEORGE  SYTEZ. 
Major  JOHN  F.  HAMTRAMCK.  "         CORNELIUS  T.  JANSEN. 

Captain  JONATHAN  HALLETT.  Lieutenant  ABRAHAM  HARDENBURGH. 

ISRAEL  SMITH.  Ensign  Douw  T.  FONDEY. 

THEODOSIUS  FOWLER.  Lieutenant  &*  Q.  M.  HENRY  VAN  WOERT. 
HENRY  VANDERBURGH.  "          <5^  A djt.  JACOB  H.  WENDELL. 

HENRY  PAULING.  Ensign  J.  MORRELL. 
Lieutenant  SAMUEL  DODGE.  '•        ADAM  TEN  BROECK. 

"         CHARLES  F.  WEISSENFELS.  Lieutenant  BENJAMIN  GILBERT. 

JAMES  JOHNSON.  Surgeon's  Mate,  JOHN  ELLIOT. 

Ensign  BERNARDO'S  SWARTWOUT.  Ensign  DIRCK  SCHUYLER. 

Lieutenant  SAMUEL  TALLMADGE.  *  Captain  LEONARD  BLEECKER. 

'•         DANIEL  DENISTON.  Ensign  JOSEPH  MORRELL. 

Ensign  NEHEMIAH  CARPENTER.  Surgeon  CALEB  SWEET. 

Lieutenant  &  Adjt.  CHRISTOPHER  HUTTON.  Ensign  WILLIAM  PETERS. 

"  &*  Q.-M.  WILLIAM  COLBRATH.  Brigadier-General  JOHN  LAMB. 

Brigadier-General  GOOSE  VAN  SCHAICK.  Lieutenant  MICHAEL  WETZELL. 
Brigade-Chaplain  Rev.  JOHN  GANO.  "          JOHN  SHAW.  , 

Regimental  Surgeon  DANIEL  MENEMA.  Captain  EPHRAIM  FENNO. 

Surgeon's  Mate  ABNER  PRIOR.  Lieutenant  &"  Adjt.  JAMES  BRADFORD. 
Lieutenant  MICHAEL  CONNOLLY.  '"         JOHN  REED. 

Lieut. -Colonel  ROBERT  COCHRAN.  Major  WILLIAM  NORTH. 

Lieutenant  RUDOLPH  VAN  HOVENBARGH.  Lieutenant  HENRY  CUNNINGHAM. 

"         EPHRAIM  WOODRUFF.  Lieut. -Colonel  EBENEZER  STEVENS. 

"         JOSEPH  FRILICK.  Captain  DANIEL  NIVEN. 

Ensign  SAMUEL  DODGE.  Major  SEBASTIAN  BAUMAN. 

'•        BARTHOLEMEW  VANDERBURGH.  Captain  PETER  TAULMAN. 

Captain  HENRY  Du  Bois.  Lieutenant  WILLIAM  PRICE. 

"         JACOB  WRIGHT.  Captain  JOHN  DOUGHTY. 

Lieut. -Colonel  BENJAMIN  WALKER.  Lieutenant  ISAAC  SMITH. 

"  WILLIAM  STEPHENS  SMITH.  Captain  THOMAS  MACHIN. 

Lieutenant  PETER  MAGEE.  Lieutenant  PETER  ANSPACH. 

Major  JOHN  GRAHAM.  Captain  ISAAC  GUION. 

Lieutenant  &  P.  M.  JEREMIAH  VAN  RENSSELAER.  //"  Excellency  Governor  GEORGE  CLINTON. 

Captain  AARON  AORSON.  "  Captain  CALEB  BREWSTER. 

Ensign  JOHN  MARSH.  Captain  GKORGE  FLEMING. 

Lieutenant  EPHRAIM  SNOW.  Lieutenant  JOSEPH  FOOT. 

Ensign  JOHN  FONDEY.  »  Lieut-Colonel  FREDERICK  WEISSENFELS. 

Captain  HENRY  TIEBOUT.  Lieutenant  GEORGE  I.  DENNISTON. 
Lieutenant  WILHELMUS  RYC'KMAN.  "          WILLIAM  TAPP. 

Ensign  GARRET  LANSING.  "         THOMAS  HUNT. 

Captain  JAMES  GREGG.  "         WFLLIAM  BELKNAP. 

Ensign  ROBERT  WILSON.  Surgeon  JOHN  FRANCIS  VACHER. 

Captain  JOHN  C.  TEN  BKOECK.  Major  BENJAMIN  LEDYARD. 

Lieutenant  SAMUEL  LEWIS.  Captain  CHARLES  GRAHAM. 
Lieut. -Colonel  CORNELIUS  VAN  DYCK.  "        EI.IHU  MARSHALL. 

Lieutenant  JOHN  FURMAN.  "        JAMES  STEWART. 


*  General  McDougall  having  died. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


Captain  DANIEL  PARKER,  Jr. 

"        JAMES  GILI.ILANU. 
Lieutenant  ABRAHAM  HYATT. 

"         JAMES  FAIRI.IE. 
Judge-Advocate  JOHN  LAURANCE. 
Lieut. -Colonel  RICHARD  VARICK. 
Geographer  SIMEON  DE  WITT. 
Captain  ANDREW  ENGLIS. 

"        JACOB  REED. 
Lieutenant  GEORGE  LEAVCRAFT. 

"         WILLIAM  LEAYCRAKT. 
WILLIAM  STRACHAN. 

"         ABRAHAM  LEGGETT. 

"         JOHN  STAKE. 

"         JAMES  GILES. 
Captain-Lieutenant  PETER  NESTELL. 
Lieutenant  JOSIAH  BAGLEY. 
Physician  JOHN  COCHRAN. 
Lieut. -Colonel  JOHN  CONWAY. 
Captain  EDWARD  DUNSCOMB. 
Lieutenant  TJERCK  BEEKMAN. 
Lieutenant  DUNCAN  CAMPBELL. 

JAMES  MILES  HUGHES,  Esq. 

"         CALEB  SWAN. 
Lieut. -Colonel  MARINUS  WILLETT. 
Captain  PETER  VOSBOROUGH. 
Lieutenant  FRANCIS  HANMOR. 
Major  SAMUEL  LOGEN. 
Lieut. -Colonel  AQUILA  GILES. 
Colonel  PETER  GANSEVOORT. 
Major  MATTHEW  CLARKSON. 
Lieutenant  JOHN  STAGG,  Jr. 
Captain-Lieutenant  JOHN  WALDRON. 
Surgeon  GARRET  J.  VAN  WAGENEN. 
Lieut. -Colonel  THOMAS  FREDERICK  JACKSON. 
WILLIAM  WALTON  MORRIS. 
JOHN  SMITH. 

Captain  JOHN  GREEN,  Navy. 
Physician  THOMAS  TILLOTSON. 
Captain  JOHN  BARD. 


Hospital  Mate  STEPHEN  GRAHAM. 
Captain  SILAS  GRAY. 
Lieutenant  TUNIS  VAN  WAGENEN. 

"          NATHANIEL  HENRY. 
Captain-Lieutenant  CHARLES  NUKERK. 
Captain  JAMES  CHRYSTIE. 
Lieut. -Colonel  ROBERT  TROUH. 
Lieutenant  ABIJAH  HAMMOND. 
Colonel  ANTHONY  WALTON  WHITE. 
Lieutenant  EPHRAIM  HUNT. 
Doctor  ANDREW  CRAIGIE. 
"       EBENEZER  CROSBY. 
Captain  DAVID  VAN  HORNE. 
Lieut. -Colonel  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 
Assistant  Clothier  DAVID  BROOKS. 

The  Honorable  RICHARD  MORRIS. 
"  R.  R.  LIVINGSTON. 

"  JAMES  DUANE. 

WILLIAM  DUER. 
-.c'S.Su  JOHN  SLOSS  HOBART. 

Lieutenant  JOHN  GRIER. 

Lieut. -Colonel  BROCKHOLST  LIVINGSTON. 

Captain  JAMES  WATSON. 

Doctor  CHARLES  MCKNIGHT. 

Ensign  JEHOSHAPHAT  STARR. 

Lieutenant  NATHANIEL  LAWRENCE,  of  N.  Carolina 

Society. 

Doctor  ISAAC  LEDYARD. 
Lieut. -Colonel  HENRY  B.  LIVINGSTON. 
The  Honorable  WILLIAM  FLOYD  (Honorary). 
Lieut. -Colonel  JAMES  GRIER.  of  the  Penn.  Society. 
Lieutenant  ANDREW  WHITE. 
Captain  JAMES  BREWSTER. 

•'         JONATHAN  LAWRENCE. 
Lieutenant  ALEXANDER  THOMPSQN. 
Captain  DANIEL  GANO. 
Colonel  MORGAN  LEWIS. 
Captain  JOHN  SANTFORD. 
Colonel  SAMUEL  B.  WEBB,  of  the  Conn.  Society. 


Copy  of  the  original  signatures  to  the  Institution.     New  York,  3d  May,  178 
Attest:  ROBERT  PEMBERTON  (Secretary).  STEUBEN  (President}. 


REV.    STEPHEN    GANG.   A.    M. 

DECEMBER    25.     1762    -•    AUGUST     18,     1828. 

Surgeon    In  the   American   Revolution.      Pastor  of    the   First   Baptist  Church.    Providence,    R.    I.    1792-    1828. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  85 

HONORARY    MEMBERS 

OF   THE 

SOCIETY     OF     THE     CINCINNATI 

ADMITTED    IN    THE    STATE    OF    NEW    YORK. 


WHEN  ELECTED. 

1784,  July  6th.     REV.  STEPHEN  GANG. 

JOHN  LANSING. 

JAMES  M'CLAUGHERY,  Colonel. 

LEWIS  MORRIS,  Major-General,  U.  S.  A. 

THOMAS  MOFFATT,  Major. 

JONAS  PLATT,  Justice. 

PHILIP  PELL,  Jr.,  Judge  Advocate,  U.  S.  A. 

JOHN  MORIN  SCOTT,  Brig. -General. 

PIERRE  VAN  CORTLANDT,  Lieut. -Governor  of  N.   Y. 

DANIEL  WILLIAMS,  Captain. 

ROBERT  YATES,  Chief  Justice. 
1786,  July  4th.     RICHARD  MORRIS,  Chief  Justice. 

ROBERT  R.  LIVINGSTON,  Chancellor. 

JAMES  DUANE. 

WILLIAM  DUER. 

JOHN  SLOSS  HOBART,  Jtistice. 
17&7,  July  4th.     HENRY  LIVINGSTON. 

WILLIAM  FLOYD,  Colonel. 
1791,  July  4th.     STEPHEN  VAN  RENSCELAER  (the  Patroon). 

JOHN  HATHORNE,  Colonel. 
1796,  July  4th.     JACOB  MORTON. 

WILLIAM  CONSTABLE. 
1800,  July  4th.     JOHN  BARKER  CHURCH. 

REV.  \VILLIAM  LINN,  D.  D. 

THOMAS  TRUXTON,  Captain,  U.  S.  A7. 

1803,         "  GOUVERNEUR  MORRIS. 

1805,       "  REV.  JOHN  MITCHELL  MASON,  D.D. 

1813,       "  STEPHEN  DECATCR,  Commodore,  U.  S.  N. 

JACOB  JONES.  Captain,  U.  S.  N. 

WILLIAM  BAINBRIDGE,  Commodore.  U.  S.  N. 

OLIVER  HAZZARD  PERRY,  Commodore,  U.  S.  N ' . 

JAMES  LAWRENCE,  Captain,  U.  S.  N. 
1815,       "  THOMAS  MACDONOUGH,  Commodore,  U.  S.  N. 

ISAAC  HULL,  Captain,  U.  S.  N. 
"  JOHNSTON  BLAKELEY,  Captain,  U.  S.  N. 

LEWIS  WARRINGTON,  Captain,  U.  S.  N. 

1818,  "  JACOB  BROWN,  Major-General,   U.  S.  A. 

1819,  "  ANDREW  JACKSON,  President  of  U.  S. 
1822,      "            RUFUS  KING. 

1825,       "  BARON  D'AURIER,  Commander  of  the  French  Army. 

1827,       "  EDWARD  LIVINGSTON,  Chief  Justice. 

1847,       "  STEPHEN  W.  KEARNEY,  Major-Gtneral,  U.  S.  A. 

MATTHEW  C.  PERRY,  Commodore,  U.  S.  N. 


86  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

1847,  July  4th.     ZACHARY  TAYLOR,  President  of  U .  S. 

WILLIAM  J.  WORTH    Major-General,   U.  S.  A. 
1849,       "  WILLIAM  G.  BELKNAP,  Major-General,  U.  S.  A. 

JOHN  E.  WOOL,  Major-General,  U.  S.  A. 
1859,       "  JAMES  BUCHANAN,  President  of  U.  S. 

JOHN  ALSOP  KING,  Governor  of  N.   Y. 

1862,       "  ROBERT  ANDERSON,  Brig. -General,  U.  S.  A. 

1866,       "  ULYSSES  SIMPSON  GRANT,  Lieut. -General,  U.  S.  A. 

DAVID  GLASGOW  FARRAGUT,  Rear  Admiral,  U.  S.  N. 
1879,  WILLIAM  TECUMSEII  SHERMAN,  General,  U.  S.  A. 

1881,       "  WINFIELD  SCOTT  HANCOCK,  Major- General,  U.  S.  A. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  87 


TRANSACTIONS 


NEW     YORK     STATE     SOCIETY 


The  first  meeting  of  the  New  York  State  Society  consisted 
of  those  officers  of  the  two  New  York  Regiments  of  Infantry,  who  were  mem 
bers  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  was  held  in  June,  1783,  at  the  Cantonments,  on  the 
Hudson,  near  New  Windsor,  when  the  following  was  adopted  : 

Resolved,  That  as  the  officers  of  the  New  York  line  are  on  the  point  of  separating,  and  will 
not  have  an  opportunity  of  meeting  for  the  election  of  officers  of  the  State  Society  of  the  Cincin 
nati,  Lieutenant- Colonel  Benjamin  Walker  be  directed  to  collect  the  ballots  of  the  members 
present,  and  to  request  the  officers  of  the  artillery  to  send  him  their  ballots  as  soon  as  possible, 
and  that  when  the  whole  are  collected,  he  do  call  in  the  assistance  of  any  t\vo  officers  who  may 
be  present  to  count  the  said  ballots,  and  declare  the  election. 

In  pursuance  of  this  resolution,  on  the  5th  of  July, 


1783, 


Lieutenant-Colonel  Benjamin  Walker,  Captain  Israel  Smith,  and  Captain 
Caleb  Brewster  having  met,  counted  the  ballots  for  officers  of  the  New  York 
State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  declared  and  certified  the  Election  to  have 
fallen  on 

Major- General  McDoUGALL,  President, 

His  Excellency  Governor  CLINTON,  Brigadier-Genet  al,  Vice-President, 

Lieutenant-Colonel  WALKER,  Secretary, 

Colonel  CORTLANDT,  Treasurer, 

Major  FISH,  Assistant  Treasurer. 


1784. 

On  the  3d  February,  a  Committee  consisting  of  Colonel  Philip  Van  Cort- 
landt,  Lieutenant-Colonels,  Edward  Antill,  William  S.  Smith,  Benjamin  Walker, 
Majors,  Nicholas  Fish,  Richard  Platt,  Captain  Edward  Dunscomb,  Lieutenant 
James  Fairlie  and  Dr.  John  Cochran,  were  appointed  to  prepare  a  set  of  By- 
Laws  for  the  Society,  which  were  submitted  and  adopted  on  the  pth  of  February 


88  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

following.     The   XXIst    Article  of    these  divided  this  State   Society  into  two 
Districts,  the  Northern  and  the  Southern.* 

The  General  Society,  at  their  meeting  in  May  of  this  year,  having  proposed 
alterations  to  the  Institution,  their  circular  letter  to  the  several  State  Societies 
suggesting  them  was  presented  to  the  New  York  State  Society  on  the  6th 
July,  but  the  Society  declined  to  take  action  upon  it  then,  and  referred  it  to  a 
Committee,  who  subsequently  on  6th  July,  1786,  as  will  hereafter  appear,  made 
their  report,  which  was  adopted  by  the  Society. 


On  the  aist  January,  at  a  meeting  held  at  the  New  York  Coffee  House, 
Baron  Steuben,  Colonel  Samuel  B.  Webb,  and  David  Brooks,  Assistant  Clothier- 
General,  were  appointed  a  Committee  to  draw  up  a  plan  of  the  proper  cere 
monials  f  to  be  observed  in  the  delivery  of  the  Diplomas  to  the  members  of  the 
Society,  especially  to  the  elected  members,  and  to  report  their  proceedings  to 

this  Committee,  which  they  did  on  the  2ist  of  June  following. 

» 
First. — A  Chair  of  State,  covered  with  light  blue  satin  with  white  fringe,  the  carvings  of  the 

arms  and  feet  painted  white,  on  the  top  of  the  back  a  staff  supported  by  two  hands  united,  hold 
ing  up  the  Cap  of  Liberty,  which  is  grasped  by  the  bald  eagle  (as  the  Order  of  the  Society)  below, 
a  white  fillet  with  the  motto 

"  We  will  defend  it.'1 

This  chair  to  be  elevated  on  two  semi-circular  steps,  covered  on  the  top  with  light  blue  cloth 
and  painted  white  in  front. 

Second. —  The  Standard  of  the  Society  of  silk,  imitating  the  standard  of  the  United  States, 
having  thirteen  blue  and  white  stripes,  alternate,  in  the  upper  corner  of  which  to  be  painted  the 
bald  eagle. 

Third. — A  small  square  table,  about  three  feet  four  inches  in  height,  covered  with  blue  satin- 
fringed  with  blue  silk  fringe  and  tassels. 

fourth. —  Two  cushions  of  white  satin,  fringed  with  blue  silk  fringe  and  tassels,  on  one  of 
which  the  eagles  and  on  the  other  the  diplomas  of  the  elected  members  will  be  displayed. 

That  the  ceremony  be  performed  in  the  Assembly  Room  at  the  City  Tavern.  The  outside 
of  the  house  to  be  decorated  with  laurel  crowns  and  festoons.  The  room  for  the  ceremony  to  be 
arranged  in  the  following  manner: 

The  floor  to  be  covered  with  carpets. 

The  Chair  of  State  for  the  President  to  be  placed  opposite  the  door  of  entrance,  at  each 
extremity  of  the  room,  amphitheatres  to  be  erected  for  the  spectators.  On  the  right  of  the  Chair 


*  In  the  report  of  a  Committee  to  revise  the  By-Laws  presented  by  the  HOH.J  James  Duane,  Chairman,  on  the 
i4th  February,  1791,  the  following  appears  : 

"  The  XXIst  Article,  which  divides  this  State  Society  into  two  Districts,  your  Committee  apprehend  has,  with 
respect  to  the  Northern  District,  fallen  into  disuse.  It  does  not  appear  from  the  records,  that  more  than  one 
communication  has  ever  been  received  from  them,  which  was  on  the  2/th  of  March,  1787,  since  the  institution. 
Without  having  anything  particular  to  propose  on  the  Article,  the  Committee  think  it  not  improper  on  this 
revision  to  bring  it  into  view,  they  do  it,  though  rather  from  an  opinion  that  it  is  worthy  of  consideration,  whether 
any  By-Law  or  act  of  the  Society  which  is  become  a  dead  letter,  ought  longer  to  exist." 

t  This  report  evidences  the  appreciation  of  the  ceremonial  attending  installations  in  the  Old  World,  and  bears 
the  impress  of  the  chairman's  respect  for  observances  with  which  he  had  been  familiar  there.  It  is  scarcely  neces 
sary  to  say  that  progress  has  dispensed  with  most  of  these  details. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  89 

of  State,  a  distinguished  chair  for  the  Vice- President;  on  the  right  of  this,  and  to  the  left  of  the 
Chair  of  State,  seats  to  be  placed  for  the  members  belonging  to  the  other  States  in  the  Union  and 
such  foreign  members  as  should  be  present  at  the  ceremony.  In  front  of  the  two  amphitheatres, 
to  be  placed  seats  for  the  members  of  this  State  Society.  Opposite  the  President's  chair  to  be 
placed  seats  for  the  members  to  be  received.  The  gallery  above  the  door  of  entrance  to  be  deco 
rated  and  therein  to  be  stationed  kettle  drums  and  trumpets. 

The  following  members  were  appointed  the  Masters  of  Ceremony  for  the  4th  July,  1786: 
Colonels  Webb,  Van  Cortlandt,  Lewis,  and  Major  Giles,  any  two  of  whom  to  perform  the  duty. 

Form  of  Reception  used  by  the  Society  at  its  Anniversary  on  the  4th  of 
July,  1786: 

The  foreign  members  and  members  belonging  to  other  State  Societies,  the  spectators, 
kettle-drums  and  trumpets  having  occupied  their  places,  Captain  Isaac  Guion,  the  Standard 
Bearer,  escorted  by  four  members  all  in  full  uniform  wearing  the  Order  of  the  Society,  carried  the 
standard  into  the  hall  and  planted  it  in  front,  to  the  right  of  the  steps  of  the  Chair  of  State. 
The  escort  returning,  the  Society  marched  in  procession  into  the  Hall  in  the  following  order: 

\st. — Masters  of  Ceremony 
(Colonel  WEBB  and  Major  GILES). 

2d. — Members 
(  Tii'o  by  two). 

$d. —  The  Secretary 

(Captain   ROBERT  PEMBERTON,  carrying  the  original   Institutions  of  the  Society  bound  in  light 

blue  satin). 

4th. —  The  Treasurer  and  Deputy   Treasurer 

(Colonel  PIERRE  VAN  CORTLANDT  and  RICHARD  PLATT,  bearing  the  two  white  satin  cushions 
containing  the  gold  eagles  and  the  diplomas). 

5  th .  —  The   Vice-  President 
(General  SCHUVLER). 

(tth. —  The  President 

(Baron  STEUBEN). 

At  entering  the  room  the  members  filed  off  to  the  right  and  left,  and  were  placed  by  the 
Masters  of  Ceremony,  and  remained  standing  before  their  seats.  The  Secretary  was  stationed 
behind  a  small  table,  covered  with  white  satin,  placed  on  the  left  in  front  of  the  steps  of  the  State 
Chair.  The  Treasurer  was  placed  on  the  steps,  on  the  right  of  the  President,  supporting  the 
cushion,  in  which  were  the  gold  eagles,  and  the  Deputy  Treasurer  on  his  left,  supporting  the 
cushion,  on  which  were  the  Diplomas  for  the  elected  members,  and  the  Masters  of  Ceremony 
took  their  places,  one  on  the  right  of  the  Standard  and  the  other  on  the  left  of  the  Secretary.  At 
the  entrance  of  the  President  the  Standard  saluted,  and  the  kettle-drums  and  trumpets  gave  a 
flourish,  until  he  had  taken  his  seat;  then  the  Standard  was  raised  and  the  members  took  their 
seats.  The  Masters  of  Ceremony  were  then  ordered  to  introduce  the  newly-elected  members, 
who  were  placed  on  seats  opposite  the  State  Chair.  The  ceremony  was  opened  by  an  oration 
delivered  by  Colonel  Hamilton.  After  the  Secretary  had  read  the  Institution  the  President  (Gen 
eral  McDougall)  addressed  the  Society  and  the  newly-elected  members.  The  President,  rising 
from  his  seat,  put  on  his  hat,  when  all  the  members  of  the  Society  arose  at  the  same  time.  The 
Master  of  Ceremonies  conducted  the  Honorable  Richard  Morris,  Chief  Justice  of  the  State,  to 
the  first  step  before  the  President,  who  asked  him  first,  whether  he  desired  to  be  received  into 
the  Society,  and  if  so,  to  promise  a  strict  observance  of  the  Rules  and  Statutes  just  read.  Upon 
answering  in  the  affirmative,  with  one  hand  taking  the  Standard,  he  signed  the  Institution  with 
the  other.  The  President  then  taking  one  of  the  gold  eagles  from  the  cushion  held  by  the  Treas 
urer,  presented  it  with  these  words,  "  Receive  this  mark  as  a  recompense  for  your  merit  and  in 


90  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

remembrance  of  our  glorious  Independence."  The  kettle-drums  and  trumpets  then  gave  a 
flourish.  The  President  then  taking  the  Diploma,  with  the  recipient's  name  inscribed,  presented 
it  to  him,  with  the  following  words: 

"  This  will  show  your  title  as  a  member  of  our  Society,  imitate  the  illustrious  hero,  Lucius 
Qitintus  Cincinnattis,  whom  we  have  chosen  for  our  Patron,  like  him  be  the  defender  of  your 
country  and  a  good  citizen . "  Another  flourish  of  trumpets.  The  President,  then  shaking  hands 
with  Chief  Justice  Morris,  he  was  presented  by  the  Master  of  Ceremonies  to  the  Vice-President, 
and  from  him  to  all  the  members  of  the  Society,  who  rose  and  saluted  him,  when  he  was  assigned 
to  a  seat  provided  at  the  upper  end  of  the  room,  taking  rank  above  the  members  of  the  Society  fo 
the  day  only. 

Chancellor  Livingston,  the  Honorable  James  Duane  (the  Mayor  of  the  City),  William  Duer 
(Secretary  of  the  Treasury)  and  John  Sloss  Hobart  (Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court)  were  then 
installed  as  honorary  members  with  the  same  form  and  ceremonies. 

The  President  taking  off  his  hat,  the  assembly  proceeded  to  the  Banqueting  Hall  in  the  fol 
lowing  order: 

The  two  Masters  of  Ceremony. 

The  Members  (two  by  two). 

The  Newly-Elected  Members. 

Members  of  the  other  States  and  Foreign  Societies. 

The  Standard  Bearer  (after  having  saluted  the  President). 

The  Secretary. 

The  Treasurer  and  Deputy  Treasurer. 

The  Vice-President, 

The  President. 


The  President,  presiding  at  the  head  of  the  table,  surrounded  by  the  foreign  and  newly- 
elected  members. 

After  the  cloth  was  removed  the  following  thirteen  toasts  were  given  : 

The  United  States  in  Congress. 

His  Most  Christian  Majesty. 

United  Netherlands. 

The  friendly  Powers  in  Europe. 

The  Governor  and  State  of  New  York. 

Our  Brethren  in  the  United  States  and  France. 

The  glorious  and  immortal  memory  of  all  who  have  fallen  in  the  defence  of  the 

liberties  of  America. 

,/ 
May  the  powers  of  Congress  be  adeqiiate  to  preserve  the  General  Union. 

The  -i"]th  of  October,  1777. 

The  igM  of  October,  1781. 

The  Fair  Friends  of  the  Cincinnati. 

George  Washington,  the  President  of  the  Society. 

The  Day. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  91 

After  the  completion  of  these  ceremonies  the  Society  adjourned  to  the  sixth 
inst.,  when  the  Committee  to  whom  were  referred  the,  proceedings  of  the 
Society  of  the  Cincinnati  at  their  last  General  Meeting,  submitted  their  report. 
That  they  have  attentively  considered  the  alterations  proposed  at  that  meeting  to 
be  made  in  the  original  Constitution  of  the  Society  ;  and  though  they  highly 
approve  the  motives  which  dictated  those  alterations,  they  are  of  opinion  it 
would  be  inexpedient  to  adopt  them,  and  this  chiefly  on  the  two  following 
accounts : 

i  st.  Because  the  Institution  as  proposed  to  be  altered,  would  contain  in 
itself  no  certain  provision  for  the  continuance  of  the  Society  beyond  the  heirs 
of  the  present  members,  this  point  being  left  to  the  regulation  of  charters 
which  may  never  be  obtained,  and  which  in  the  opinion  of  this  Committee  so 
far  as  affects  this  object  ought  never  to  be  granted,  since  the  dangers  appre 
hended  from  the  Institution  could  then  only  cease  to  be  imaginary,  when  it 
should  secure  the  sanction  of  a  legal  establishment.  The  utmost  the  Society 
ought  to  wish  or  ask  from  the  several  legislatures,  is  to  enable  it  to  appoint 
trustees  to  hold  its  property  for  the  charitable  purposes  to  which  it  is  destined. 

2d.  Because,  by  a  fundamental  article,  it  obliges  the  Society  of  each  State 
to  lend  its  funds  to  the  State,  a  provision  which  would  be  improper  for  two 
reasons — one,  that  in  case  the  Society  might  be  able  to  dispose  of  its  funds  to 
much  greater  advantage — the  other,  that  the  State  might  not  always  choose  to 
borrow  from  the  Society. 

That  while  the'  Committee  entertain  this  opinion  with  respect  to  the  pro 
posed  alterations,  they  are  at  the  same  time  equally  of  opinion  that  some  altera 
tions  in  the  original  constitution  will  be  proper,  as  well  in  deference  to  the 
sense  of  many  of  our  fellow  citizens,  as  in  conformity  to  the  true  spirit  of  the 
Institution  itself. 

The  alterations  they  have  in  view  respect,  principally,  the  duration  or  suc 
cession  of  the  Society,  and  the  distinction  between  honorary  and  regular  mem 
bers.  As  to  the  first,  the  provision  intended  to  be  made  appears  to  them  to 
be  expressed  in  terms  not  sufficiently  explicit,  and  as  far  as  it  may  intend  an 
hereditary  succession  by  right  of  primogeniture  is  liable  to  this  objection — that 
it  refers  to  birth  what  ought  to  belong  to  merit  only,  a  principle  inconsistent  with 
the  genius  of  a  Society  founded  on  friendship  and  patriotism.  As  to  the  sec 
ond,  the  distinction  holds  up  an  odious  difference  between  men  who  have  served 
their  country  in  one  way  and  those  who  have  served  it  in  another — a  difference 
ill-founded  in  itself,  and  improper  in  a  Society  where  the  character  of  Patriot 
ought  to  be  an  equal  title  to  all  its  members. 

The  Committee,  however,  decline  proposing  any  specific  substitute  for  the 
parts  of  the  original  Constitution  which  appear  to  them  exceptionable,  as  they 
are  of  opinion  any  alterations  necessary  to  be  made  can  only  be  digested  in  a 
General  Meeting  of  the  Society,  specially  authorized  to  agree  upon  and  finally 
establish  those  alterations.  With  a  view  to  this,  they  beg  leave  to  recommend 
that  a  Circular  Letter  be  written  from  the  Society  to  the  different  State  Socie 
ties,  suggesting  the  expediency  of  instructing  and  empowering  their  delegates 
at  the  next  General  Meeting,  to  concur  in  such  alterations  as  may  appear  to 


92 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


that  meeting  proper,  after  a  full  communication   of  what  shall  be  found  to  be 
the  sense  of  the  several  Societies. 

This  report  was  signed  by  Richard    Morris,  Alexander  Hamilton,  David 
Brooks,  Edward  Dunscomb  and  Robert  Troup  as  the  Committee. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Society  on  the  i5th  of  the  same  month  it  was 
Resolved,   That  in  its  opinion  no  State  Society  had  a  right  to  elect  Foreigners  as  members. 
And  the  following  letter  from  Major  L'Enfant  was  read  : 

PHILADELPHIA,  loth  June,  1783. 

MY  GENERAL  :  Immediately  on  receiving  your  letter  of  the  2Oth  May,  which  I  met  by 
accident  at  the  post  office,  on  the  yth  inst.,  I  set  myself  about  the  plan  of  the  medal.  I 
send  you  both  faces  of  the  design,  which  I  have  made  large,  so  that  you  may  better  judge  of 
them.  In  the  execution  they  can  be  reduced  to  a  convenient  size,  which,  on  account  of  the 
precision  required  in  the  design,  ought  not  to  be  less  than  a  dollar,  the  subject  being  too 
complex  to  admit  of  its  being  properly  detailed  in  a  smaller  compass. 

I  have  not  made  it  oval,  agreeably  to  your  desire,  as  such  a  form  is  not  proper  for  a  medal  ; 
besides,  it  can  be  done  in  the  execution,  if  the  idea  should  be  persisted  in  of  having  the  order  in 
that  form,  to  which,  however,  I  think  any  other  preferable.  I  also  believe  and  hope  that  you 
will  be  persuaded  of  this,  and  endeavor  to  convince  the  gentlemen  of  it  who  compose  the  com 
mittee  for  forming  the  Institution,  and  to  whom  I  beg  you  to  communicate  the  following 
observations : 

A  medal,  whether  round  or  oval,  is  considered,  in  the  different  states  of  Europe,  only  as  a 
reward  of  the  laborer  and  the  artist,  or  as  a  sign  of  a  manufacturing  community,  or  religious 
society  ;  besides,  the  abusive  custom  prevailing  particularly  in  Germany  and  Italy,  of  sending  to 
France  mountebanks,  dancers  and  musicians,  ornamented  in  this  manner,  renders  it  necessary  to 
distinguish  this  order  by  a  form  which  shall  be  peculiar  to  itself,  and  which  will  answer  the  two 
fold  purpose  of  honoring  those  invested  with  it,  and  making  itself  respected  for  its  simplicity,  by 
such  as  may  be  in  a  situation  minutely  to  examine  its  different  parts. 

Not  that  I  suppose  one  form  or  another  will  change  the  opinion  of  a  republican  people,  accus 
tomed  to  think  ;  I  only  say,  that  in  an  institution  of  this  sort,  the  main  design  should  be  to  render 
it  respectable  to  everybody,  and  that  it  is  only  in  appealing  to  the  senses  that  you  can  engage  the 
attention  of  the  common  people,  who  have  certain  habitual  prejudices  which  cannot  be  destroyed. 
A  gentleman  already  invested  with  any  European  order  would  be  unwilling  to  carry  a  medal,  but 
if,  flattered  by  receiving  a  mark  of  distinction  from  a  respectable  society,  he  should  do  it,  the 
manner  of  it  would  by  no  means  increase  the  value  of  the  order.  On  the  contrary,  giving  it  a 
new  and  particular  form  will  be  adding  a  recommendation  to  its  real  value,  and  engage  those 
invested  with  it  to  wear  it  in  the  same  manner  as  their  other  military  orders,  which  is  the  surest 
means  of  putting  it  at  once  upon  a  footing  with  them. 

The  bald  eagle,  which  is  peculiar  to  this  continent,  and  is  distinguished  from  those  of  other 
climates  by  its  white  head  and  tail,  appears  to  me  to  deserve  attention. 

I  send  you  two  essays  which  I  have  made,  and  desire  one  of  them  may  be  adopted  instead  of 
the  medal.  In  one,  I  make  the  eagle  supporting  a  star  with  thirteen  points,  in  the  centre  of 
which  is  the  figure  of  the  medal,  with  its  inscriptions,  as  well  in  front  as  on  the  reverse.  A  legend 
might  be  added  in  the  claws  and  go  round  the  neck  of  the  eagle,  with  a  particular  inscription,  or 
the  contour  of  the  medal  transferred  there.  In  the  other,  I  have  made  simply  the  eagle,  sup 
porting  on  its  breast  the  figure  of  the  medal,  with  a  legend  in  his  claws  and  about  the  neck,  which 
passes  behind  and  sustains  the  reverse.  I  would  prefer  the  latter,  as  it  does  not  resemble  any 
other  order,  and  bears  a  distinct  character  ;  nor  will  it  be  expensive  in  its  execution.  The  first 
device,  although  more  complex,  would  not  be  so  dear  as  people  might  imagine,  especially  if  the 
execution  of  it  should  be  committed  to  skillful  persons,  which  would  not  be  the  case  any  more 


^  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  93 

than  with  the  medal,  but  bj  sending  it  to  Europe,  where  it  would  not  take  up  a  great  deal  of  time, 
nor  be  so  expensive  as  to  trust  the  execution  of  it  here  to  workmen  not  well  acquainted  with  the 
business. 

A  medal  is  a  monument  to  be  transmitted  to  posterity  ;  and,  consequently,  it  is  necessary  that 
it  be  executed  to  the  highest  degree  of  perfection  possible  in  the  age  in  which  it  is  struck.  Now, 
to  strike  a  medal  well,  is  a  matter  that  requires  practice  and  a  good  die  ;  and  as  there  is  not  here 
either  a  press  proper  for  this  work,  nor  people  who  can  make  a  good  die,  I  would  willingly  under 
take  to  recommend  the  execution  of  the  medal,  the  eagle,  or  the  order,  to  such  persons  in  Paris  as 
are  capable  of  executing  it  to  perfection. 

So  far  from  proposing  to  change  the  oval  medal  into  an  eagle,  on  which  should  be  impressed 
the  medal,  I  do  not  pretend  to  say  medals  cannot  be  made.  On  the  contrary,  my  idea  of  the 
subject  is  that  silver  medals  should  be  struck,  at  the  common  expense  of  the  Society,  and  distri 
buted,  one  to  each  member,  as  an  appendage  to  a  diploma  of  parchment,  whereon  it  would  be 
proper  to  stamp  the  figure  of  the  medal,  the  eagle,  or  the  star,  in  its  full  dimensions,  and  properly 
colored,  enjoining  on  the  members  to  conform  to  it,  though  leaving  them  the  liberty,  provided  it 
be  at  their  own  expense,  of  having  it  made  of  such  metal  and  as  small  as  they  please,  without 
altering  any  of  the  emblems.  It  seems  to  me  by  no  means  proper  that  the  honorary  members 
should  wear  the  order  in  the  same  manner  as  the  original  members  ;  it  would  be  necessary  that 
they  should  wear  the  medal,  the  star,  or  the  eagle,  round  their  necks,  and  the  original  members 
at  their  third  button-hole 

These  remarks,  I  beg  you,  my  General,  to  have  translated  and  submitted  to  the  gentlemen 
concerned.  I  shall  be  obliged  to  you  to  let  me  know  the  issue  of  this  letter,  and  their  decision 
upon  it. 

I  have,  etc.,  etc.,  etc,, 

L'ENFANT. 

N.  B.— The  head  and  tail  of  the  eagle  should  be  silver,  or  enamelled  in  white,  the  body  and 
wings  gold,  the  medal  on  its  breast  and  back  enamelled  in  the  same  color  as  the  legend  ;  sprigs 
of  laurel  and  oak  might  be  added  in  the  wings  enamelled  in  green  ;  the  star  should  be  pointed  in 
gold,  or  enamelled  in  blue  and  white  ;  those  who  would  be  at  the  expense  might,  instead  of  white, 
have  diamonds.  The  riband,  as  is  customary  in  all  orders,  should  be  watered." 

The  Committee  on  Correspondence,  appointed  to  frame  a  Circular  Letter 
to  the  other  State  Societies,  composed  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  James  Duane, 
and  William  Duer,  presented,  through  their  chairman,  the  following  : 

GKNTLEMEN  :  It  is  my  duty  to  inform  you  that  we  have  been  appointed  by  the  New  York  State 
Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  a  Committee  of  Correspondence  with  instructions  to  frame  and  trans 
mit  to  the  other  State  Societies,  a  circular  letter  on  several  matters  of  importance  to  the  Cincinnati 
in  general.  In  pursuance  of  this  trust,  we  send  you  an  extract  from  the  proceedings  of  the 
Society,  begun  the  4th  July  last,  and  continued  by  adjournments  to  the  I2th  August  following. 
This  extract  will  itself  explain  the  objects  intended  to  be  communicated  by  this  letter  and  will 
leave  little  to  be  added  by  us. 

Among  other  things  comprised  in  it,  you  will  find  the  report  of  a  committee  on  the  proceed 
ings  of  the  General  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  at  their  last  meeting  ;  which  report,  approved  by  our 
Society,  contains  its  dissent  from  the  alterations  proposed  to  be  made  in  the  original  Constitution, 
and  assigns  the  principal  reasons  of  that  dissent.  These  reasons  might  be  enforced  by  many 
additional  reasons  of  weight,  which  however  we  shall  omit,  as  we  are  persuaded  your  own  reflec 
tions  will  supply  them. 

We  cannot  help  thinking,  that  even  those  Societies  which  have  adopted  the  proposed  alter 
ations  will  on  a  review  of  the  matter  be  struck  with  the  objections  stated  in  the  report,  and  will 
cheerfully  concur  in  a  plan  for  revising  the  business,  and  digesting  it  into  a  shape  that  will  be  sat 
isfactory  to  all  the  parts  of  the  Institution. 

At  any  rate,  there  appears  to  be  an  absolute  necessity  for  such  revisal,  if  it  were  only  to  let  in 
a  mode  of  combining,  the  views  and  sentiments  of  the  respective  Societies  in  some  definite  result, 
without  which  alterations  agreed  on  every  side  to  be  proper,  will  either  not  be  made  at  all  or  made 


94  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

partially  and  on  principles  dissimilar  and  subversive  of  the  uniformity  of  the  Institution.  This 
obvious  idea  will,  we  trust,  demonstrate  the  justness  of  the  opinion,  that  it  will  be  advisable  for 
each  State  Society  to  instruct  and  empower  its  delegates  at  the  nexi  General  Meeting  to  agree 
upon  and  finally  establish  all  such  alterations  in  the  original  Constitution  as  shall  be  thought  by 
a  majority  expedient.  The  extension  of  the  authority  of  the  delegates  to  the  final  establishment 
of  the  alterations  to  be  agreed  upon  is  in  our  opinion  indispensable.  The  prospect  of  an  unani 
mous  concurrence  of  all  the  particular  Societies,  in  any  plan  which  might  be  referred  to  their  ulti 
mate  deliberations  would  be  remote,  and  the  objects  of  the  Society  are  too  simple  and  limited  to 
require  such  a  reference. 

Before  we  dismiss  the  subject  of  the  proposed  alterations,  we  shall  submit  an  observation  on 
that  part  of  them  which  relates  to  the  exclusion  of  the  clause,  by  which  it  is  made  a  fundamental 
principle  of  the  Society,  to  promote  and  cherish  between  the  respective  States,  that  union  and 
national  honor  so  essentially  necessary  to  their  happiness  and  the  future  dignity  of  the  American 
Empire. 

We  flatter  ourselves  we  speak  the  sense  of  the  Society  of  which  we  are  members,  as  well  as  our 
own,  in  declaring  that  we  reverence  the  sentiments  contained  in  that  clause  too  much  to  be  willing 
to  see  it  expunged.  Nor  can  we  believe  that  its  continuance  will  on  reflection,  give  umbrage  to 
any  whose  views  are  not  unfriendly  to  those  principles  which  form  the  basis  of  the  Union,  and 
the  only  sure  foundation  of  the  tranquility  and  happiness  of  this  country.  To  such  men  it  can 
never  appear  criminal,  that  a  class  of  citizens  who  had  so  conspicuous  an  agency  in  the  American 
Revolution,  as  those  who  compose  the  '  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,'  should  pledge  themselve  to 
each  other  in  a  voluntary  association,  to  support  by  all  means  consistent  with  the  laws,  that  noble 
fabric  of  united  independence  which  at  so  much  hazard  and  with  so  many  sacrifices  they  have  con 
tributed  to  erect — a  fabric  on  the  solid  foundation  and  duration  of  which,  the  value  of  all  they 
have  done  must  depend — and  America  can  never  have  cause  to  condem  an  institution,  calculated 
to  give  energy  and  extent  to  a  sentiment,  favorable  to  the  preservation  of  that  union  by  which  she 
established  her  liberties,  and  to  which  she  must  owe  her  future  peace,  respectability,  and  pros 
perity.  Experience,  we  doubt  not,  will  teach  her  that  the  members  of  the  Cincinnati,  always 
actuated  by  the  same  virtuous  and  generous  motives  which  have  hitherto  directed  their  conduct, 
will  pride  themselves  in  being  through  every  vicissitude  of  her  future  fate,  the  faithful  and  steady 
supporters  of  her  liberty,  her.  laws,  and  her  government. 

Permit  me  to  call  your  attention  to  two  resolutions  contained  in  the  extract  transmitted  here 
with — one,  relating  to  a  limitation  of  the  number  of  members  to  be  elected — the  other,  relating  to 
the  right  of  the  State  Societies  to  elect  foreigners  as  members  of  the  Cincinnati.  We  believe  the 
spirit  of  both  these  resolutions  will  appear  to  you  prudent  and  conducive,  perhaps  we  might  say 
essential  to  the  respectability  of  the  Society.  The  first  speaks  for  itself,  and  the  last  has  the 
reasons  for  it,  detailed  in  a  letter  from  Major  L'Enfant,  included  in  the  extract.  The  opinion  of 
our  Society  in  this  respect,  is  founded  on  the  particular  terms  of  the  clause  of  the  Constitution 
providing  for  the  election  of  Honorary  Members,  which  seem  inapplicable  to  any  but  citizens  of 
the  respective  States  eminent  for  abilities  and  patriotism. 

But  we  presume,  if  there  should  be  any  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  right  of  electing 
foreigners,  there  will  be  none  as  to  the  expediency  of  referring  that  matter,  exclusively  to  the 
General  Society,  who  will  no  doubt  be  properly  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  circumspection  in 
admitting  the  claims  of  candidates  of  that  description,  and  who  will  be  less  likely  to  be  impor 
tuned  with  ill-founded  pretensions.  The  Society  of  this  State,  will  be  happy  to  find  that  the  views 
of  the  Societies  of  the  other  States,  coincide  with  theirs  in  the  object  of  this  letter  ;  should  this 
not  be  the  case,  we  at  least,  persuade  ourselves  they  will  be  considered  as  the  dictates  of  a  pure 
zeal  for  the  honor  and  interests  of  the  Institution. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  95 


1787. 


March  iyth,  the  Delegates  to  the  General  Meeting  were  instructed  to  vote 
for  a  resolution  for  the  reception  of  the  officers  of  the  Navy  into  the  Society, 
they  were  also  authorized  on  the  part  of  this  Society,  to  agree  upon  and  finally 
establish  all  such  alterations  in  the  original  Constitution,  as  shall  appear  to  a 
majority  of  the  General  Society  expedient  and  proper  ;  and  that  they  endeavor 
to  carry  into  effect  the  sense  of  this  Society,  as  expressed  in  the  approved 
report  of  the  Committee  of  the  6th  July,  1786. 

On  the  5th  of  July,  Hamilton,  one  of  the  delegates  to  the  General  Meeting, 
reported  that  he  had  attended  the  General  Meeting  at  Philadelphia,  on  the 
7th  of  May  ;  that  the  delegations  of  some  of  the  State  Societies  had  not  powers 
similar  to  those  given  by  this  Society,  and  therefore  it  was  not  practicable  to 
proceed  in  the  alterations  to  the  Constitution  agreeably  to  his  instructions  ; 
that  an  additional  motive  for  suspending  the  consideration  of  those  alterations, 
was,  lest  any  change  should  be  an  obstacle  to  the  acceptance  of  the  office  of 
President-General  by  the  late  Commander-in-Chief,  which  appeared  to  the 
meeting  to  be  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  the  Institution.  For  these 
reasons,  principally,  the  discussion  of  the  proposed  alterations  was  deferred  to 
a  future  period. 


1788, 

On  the  2oth  March,  the  delegates  to  the  General  Meeting  were  directed  "  in 
any  alterations  which  may  be  proposed  in  the  present  Constitution,  to  govern 
themselves  by  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  the  proceedings  of  the  General 
Society  convened  at  Philadelphia  in  1784,  as  confirmed  by  this  Society,  6th 
July,  1786." 

On  the  4th  July,  Commodore  Nicholson  was  requested  to  attend  with  the 
Society,  as  a  member  and  at  the  same  time  the  sense  of  the  Society  was 
expressed,  that  "  officers  of  the  Marine,  of  similar  rank,  are  entitled  to  be 
members  of  the  Society." 


1789. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Society,  held  on  the  nth  of  March,  at  the  Holland 
Lodge,  Hamilton  informed  the  Society  that  he  intended  to  move  at  the  next 
meeting,  for  the  following  By-Law,  to  be  annexed  to  those  already  established 
by  the  Society,  to  wit  : 

"  That  each  Treasurer  of  the  Society,  before  he  enters  upon  the  execution 
of  his  office,  shall  give  bond,  with  two  sufficient  sureties,  to  the  five  Trustees,  to 
be  named  by  the  Society,  in  the  sum  of  dollars,  for  the  faithfull  appli 

cation  of  the  funds  of  the  Society.1' 


96  THC    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

It  was  also  unanimously 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Society  be  presented  to  the  worshipful  Master  and 
Brethren  of  the  Holland  Lodge,  for  their  polite  attention  towards  the  Society,  in  accommodating 
them  in  so  handsome  a  manner  with  their  Lodge  Room  and  furniture,  at  the  present  meeting, 
and  that  the  Secretary  be  directed  to  communicate  the  same  accordingly. 


1790. 

At  a  meeting  held  February  ist,  a  petition  having  appeared  in  the  public 
papers  as  being  proposed  to  be  signed  by  officers  of  the  late  Army  of  the  U. 
S.,  and  to  be  presented  to  the  National  Legislature,  praying  that  in  the  system 
for  funding  the  .National  Debt  a  discrimination  may  be  made  in  favor  of  the 
original  holders  of  the  public  securities,  the  Society  unanimously  disclaimed  the 
principles  contained  in  the  petition,  conceiving  it  inconsistent  with  their  cha 
racter  "  to  seek  any  advantage  to  themselves  which  might  be  incompatible  with 
the  principles  of  an  honorable  policy." 

It  was  determined  in  this  year  to  celebrate  in  the  future  the  Anniversary  of 
the  birth  of  Washington. 


At  a  meeting  held  at  Francis'  Tavern  on  July  8th  of  this  year,  an  original 
member  of  the  Society  was  expelled,  and  his  name  ordered  to  be  erased  from  the 
Register.  The  record  stcites  that  he  had,  "  by  his  ungentlemanlike  conduct, 
become  a  disgrace  to  the  Society."  This  is  the  only  instance  which  appears 
upon  the  minutes,  of  the  exercise  by  this  Society  of  so  severe  an  act  of  dis 
cipline.*  • 

Captain  Hardy  of  the  Marines,  and  Captain  Hacker  of  the  Navy,  were  ad 
mitted  as  members,  by  a  unanimous  vote,  upon  a  full  report  from  a  Committee 
to  whom  their  claims  had  been  referred. 

At  a  Meeting  of  the  Standing  Committee,  held  on  the  8th  December, 
it  was 

Resolved,  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Society  fill  up  a  diploma  in  the  name  of  the  Hon.  rable 
Major-General  Horatio  Gates,  that  the  Standing  Committee,  and  such  other  members  as  the 
President  may  choose,  wait  on  him,  and  in  the  name  of  the  Society  present  the  same. 


1791. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Society,  held  on  the  igth  April,  at  Corre's  Hotel,  the 
Honorable  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  (the  Patrooii)  was  elected  an  honorary 
member. 

• 

*  After  the  death  of  the  expelled  member,  the  Society  for  several  years  contributed  liberally  to  the  relief  of 
his  widow  and  children,  and  in  1825  an  application  was  made  by  one  of  his  descendants  for  admission  to  the  Society 
in  his  right,  but  the  Society  refused  to  entertain  the  application  on  the  ground  that  James  Gilliland  had  been  a 
member,  but  was  not  so  at  the  time  of  his  death. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  97 

No  record  appears  in  the  book  of  minutes  of  a  meeting  having  been  held  on 
the  4th  July  of  this  year,  probably  on  account  of  the  epidemic  (the  yellow 
fever}. 


17Q2. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Society,  held  on  the  23d  January,  at  Corre's  Hotel, 
it  was 

Resolved,  that  the  Standing  Committee  be  directed  to  hold  a  meeting  on  the  first  Monday 
in  every  month,  for  transacting  such  business  as  may  appear  to  them  proper,  and  that  it  be  the 
duty  of  the  Secretary  to  give  notice  thereof  to  the  Members. 


No  record  appears  in  the  book  of  minutes  of  a  meeting  having  been  held  on 
the  4th  July  of  this  year. 


J793- 

On  the  4th  of  July  it  was  resolved,  that  every  member  from  other  State 
Societies  now  residing  or  who  may  hereafter  reside  within  this  State,  before  he 
be  admitted  to  vote  or  take  part  in  the  debates  of  this  Society,  shall  produce 
his  diploma  or  a  certificate  signed  by  the  President,  or  Secretary  of  the  Society 
of  the  State  from  which  he  removed,  of  his  having  been  regularly  admitted,  and 
continuing  to  be  a  member  thereof,  to  the  time  of  his  removal  into  this 
State. 


1795- 

On  July  4th.  —  Commodore  Silas  Talbot  was  admitted  a  member. 


1798. 


On  July  4th  the  Society  unanimously  directed  the  following  address  to  be 
sent  to  John  Adams,  the  President  of  the  United  States  : 


'The  respectful  Address  of  the  Officers  of  the  late  American  Army  and  Navy  assembled  in  the 
Society  of  the  Cincinnati  of  the  State  of  Neiv  York. 

"Convened  to  celebrate  the  Anniversary  of  our  National  Independence  our  attention  is 
naturally  drawn  to  the  interesting  circumstances  which  characterize  the  present  situation  of  our 
country.  Threatened  as  it  is  by  a  very  powerful  foreign  nation,  we  cannot  but  view  that  situation 
as  critical,  and  in  a  time  of  imminent  public  danger,  our  late  profession  of  soldiers  seems  to 
render  the  expression  of  our  sentiments  peculiarly  proper.  Whatever  difference  of  opinion  may 
at  any  time  have  existed  among  us,  as  among  other  classes  of  citizens,  concerning  particular 


98  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

measures,  we  conceive  that  no  difference  of  opinion  can  or  ought  to  exist  as  to  any  of  these 
cardinal  points — that  our  essential  rights  as  a  free  and  independent  Nation  are  at  every  hazard 
to  be  maintained  ;  that  the  Constitution  of  our  country  as  established  by  the  choice  of  the  people 
is  in  every  event  to  be  defended  against  all  foreign  control  or  influence  ;  that  invasion  from 
abroad,  from  whatever  quarter,  is  to  be  repelled'  by  united  and  vigorous  exertions  ;  that  our 
Government  ought  never  to  subscribe  to  national  degradation  ;  that,  however  desirable  peace 
certainly  is,  the  evils  of  war  can  bear  no  comparison  with  sacrifice  or  abandonment  of  those  great 
principles.  Making  this  declaration  of  our  principles,  the  same  with  those  which  led  us  to  assist 
in  fighting  the  Battles  of  our  Revolution,  we  cheerfully  dedicate  the  remnant  of  our  lives  to  the 
maintenance  of  them,  and  we  pledge  ourselves  to  stand  ready  to  seal  our  sincerity  with  our 
blood." 

By  unanimous  order, 

NICHOLAS    FISH,  President, 
BERNARDUS  SWARTWOUT,  Jr.,  Secretary. 


To  which  the  following  answer  was  received  : 

"  To  the  Officers    of  the  late  American  Army   and  Navy,    assembled   on    the    ^th  Jtily,  1798, 
in  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  of  the  State  of  JVew  York. 

GENTLEMEN  :  Your  respectful  address  has  been  presented  to  me  by  your  Senators  in  Con 
gress,  Mr.  North  and  Mr.  Lawrence,  who  are  also  members  of  your  Society.  The  interesting  and 
critical  situation  of  our  country,  threatened  as  it  is  by  a  very  powerful  foreign  nation,  could  not  fail 
to  command  the  attention  of  gentlemen  of  your  characters  and  habits  of  life.  I  am  happy  to 
find  that  your  opinions  coincide  with  mine  upon  all  the  cardinal  points  ;  that  our  equal  rights  as 
a  free  and  independent  Nation  are  at  every  hazard  to  be  maintained  ;  that  the  Constitution  of  our 
Country  as  established  by  the  choice  of  the  people,  is  in  every  event  to  be  defended  against  all 
foreign  control  or  interference  ;  that  invasion  from  abroad,  from  whatever  quarter,  is  to  be 
repelled  by  united  and  vigorous  exertions  ;  that  our  Government  never  ought  to  subscribe  to 
national  degradation  ;  that  the  evils  of  war  can  bear  no  comparison  with  the  sacrifice  or  aban 
donment  of  any  of  these  great  principles.  It  has  been  a  maxim  with  all  sound  Republics,  that 
to  give  way  to  injustice  is  the  most  flagrant  act,  and  to  submit  to  insult,  the  most  pernicious 
effect  of  cowardice  ;  it  is  impossible  therefor  that  you,  who  fought  the  Battles  of  our  Revolution 
with  so  much  reputation,  upon  such  principles,  should  not  dedicate  your  lives  to  the  maintenance 
of  them." 

Philadelphia,  July  Qth,  1798. 

JOHN  ADAMS. 


1799. 

At  the  meeting  on  the  4th  of  July  a  letter  from  the  South  Carolina  Society 
was  read,  containing  the  following  extracts  from  their  proceedings,  to  which 
the  Delegates  from  this  Society  to  the  General  Society  were  li  requested  to  pay 
due  attention." 


Extract  from  the  Journals  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  of  the  S/atc  of  South  Carolina. 

March  4,  1799. — The  Committee  who  were  appointed  at  the  last  meeting  to  digest  the  report 
of  the  Committee  for  perpetuating  the  Society  reported  the  same,  which  was  read,  adopted,  and  is 
as  follows  : 

That  it  be  recommended  as  a  line  of  conduct  for  this  Society  in  future  to  observe,  should  the 
General  Society  not  think  proper  to  adopt  a  system  for  perpetuating  the  same. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


99 


1.  That  all  the  sons  of 'original  members,  and  all  the  male  descendants  of  any  original  mem 
bers,  whether  such   descent  be  derived  through   a   male  or  female  branch,  or  of  such  officers,  as 
having  served  with  reputation,  died  during  the  last  war,  or  having  been  entitled  to  become  members, 
died  within  six  months  after  the  army  was  disbanded,  who  may  be  judged  worthy  of  becoming  its 
members  and  supporters,  may  be  elected  into  this  Society  on  application,  after  attaining  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years,  provided  three- fourths  of  a  legal  quarterly  meeting  are  in  his  favor.     That 
each  member  so  elected  shall  pay  into  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer,  for  the  use  of  the  fund  the  sum 
of  thirty  dollars. 

2.  That  all  the  officers,  commissioned,  staff,  or  brevet,  who  have  served  in  the  Army  or  Navy 
of  the    United  States,  since  the  peace   with  Great  Britain,  for  six  years,  and  who  still  continue 
therein,  or  who,  after  having  served  as  aforesaid  for  six  years,  left  the  service  with  reputation,  or 
who  shall  have  been  deranged  by  any  act  or  resolution  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
after  having  served  with  reputation  for  three  years,  and  all  those  who  are,  or  shall  hereafter  be 
appointed  to  a  command  in  the  Army  or  Navy  of  the  United  States,  commissioned,  brevet,  or  staff, 
and  who  shall  have  served  therein  with  reputation,  for  six  years,  or  who  shall  be  deranged  by  any 
act  or  resolution  of   Congress,  after  a  service  with  reputation  for  three  years,  may  be  admitted 
into  this  Society,  upon  application,  by  election,  provided  three-fourths  of  a  legal  quarterly  meeting 
are  in  his  favor,  and  upon  payment  of  one  month's  pay  into  the  treasury  of  this  Society,  according 
to  the  respective  ranks  of  the  applicants  for  admission. 

3.  No  election  shall  be  valid  without  the  name  of  the  candidate  shall  be  openly  proposed,  at 
a  regular  quarterly  meeting  previous  to  the  quarterly  meeting,  at  which  the  ballot  shall  be  held. 


On  December  2ist,  a  Special  Meeting  was  convened  in  consequence  of  the  intelligence  of  the 
death  of  WASHINGTON,  when  it  was 

Resolved,  that  the  members  of  this  Society  will  wear  full  mourning  as  for  a  Father,  for  six 
months,  during  which  time  they  will  also  wear  the  badge  of  the  Society  covered  with  black  crape. 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  act  in  conjunction  with  committees  from  the  Corporation  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  and  other  bodies,  to  agree  upon  the  best  manner  of  paying  suitable  honors  to 
the  memory  of  the  illustrious  deceased. 


Subsequently,  Congress  having  recommended  that  the  22d  of  February  be  set  apart  for  the 
purpose  of  testifying  the  public  grief  on  this  event,  the  Society  requested  the  Rev.  Dr.  William 
Linn  to  deliver  a  discourse  adapted  to  the  mournful  occasion.  The  solemnities  were  observed  in 
the  new  Dutch  Church  in  Nassau  street,  and  were  opened  with  a  solemn  dirge  on  the  organ, 
followed  by  a  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rodgers,  an  anthem  was  sung,  and  the  eulogy  delivered 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Linn.  There  was  a  voluntary  upon  the  organ  at  the  conclusion. 


1801. 

At  a  meeting  in  January  it  was  proposed  to  erect  a  monument  within  the 
City  of  New  York  to  the  memory  of  WASHINGTON.  It  was  subsequently 
decided,  that  the  monument  should  be  an  equestrian  statue  of  bronze,  with  suit 
able  inscriptions  and  ornaments.  For  this  purpose  a  large  amount  of  money  was 
collected,  and  still  more  subscribed,  but  not  sufficient  to  defray  the  estimated 
cost.  The  money  which  had  been  collected  was  some  years  afterwards 
returned  to  the  contributors  with  the  accumulation  of  interest  thereon. 

Major  James  Fairlie   and  the   Secretary,  Lieutenant  John  Stagg,  Jr.,  were 


100  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

appointed  a  Committee  to  design  a  standard  suitable  for  the  Society,  and  at  a 
subsequent  meeting  presented  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted  and 
ordered  to  be  executed. 

"That  a  banner  be  adopted  instead  of  a  standard,  of  the  form  hereunto  annexed,  to  be 
made  of  silk,  and  to  measure  about  forty-one  inches  in  length,  and  twenty-eight  inches  in  breadth. 
That  the  stars  be  silver  embroidered  on  a  blue  field.  Thirteen  stripes,  light  blue  and  white  alter 
nately.  Fringe,  silver,  about  two  inches  in  length.  On  the  top  of  the  staff — which  is  to  be 
painted  white,  and  to  be  about  ten  feet  in  length — to  be  represented  an  eagle — the  order  of  the 
Society — to  be  made  of  brass  or  copper,  and  gilt — from  its  beak  a  gilt  chain,  suspending  the 
banner."  In  the  Treasurer's  report  following  appears  this  item,  "To  Madam  Bancel  for 
making  the  standard,  sixty-five  dollars." 


l8O2. 

July  5. — The  Standing  Committee  was  constituted,  the  Committee  to  which 
all  applications  to  be  admitted  as  members  of  the  Cincinnati  should  be  presented, 
and  they  were  directed  to  report  the  same  to  the  Society  for  final  action. 
Prior  to  this,  under  a  resolution  of  March,  1789,  there  had  been  a  separate 
"  Committee  on  Claims,''  which  considered  all  such  applications. 


1.803. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Standing  Committee  on  yth  December,  a  communica 
tion  being  made  to  the  Society  by  Colonel  Smith  that  a  turnpike  road  runs 
"directly  over  the  grave  of  the  late  Baron  Steuben,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  Society,  holding  in  reverence  and  respect  his  memory,  the  President  be 
requested  to  communicate  with  Colonels  Walker  and  North,  and  to  report  whether  any  and  what 
steps  would  be  proper  for  the  Society  to  adopt  on  the  subject,  not  interfering  with  the  wishes  of 
the  deceased  previous  to  his  death,  and  that  the  President  report  to  the  Standing  Committee  at 
the  next  monthly  meeting  the  result  of  his  inquiries. 


At  the  Standing  Committee's  Meeting  of  2yth  June,  the  secretary  reported 
that  an  invitation  had  been  send  to  Colonel  John  Trumbull,  late  one  of  the 
Commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  of  the  Court  of  Great  Britain, 
to  attend  the  celebration  of  the  Anniversary  of  the  National  Independence  on 
the  following  4th  July.  The  Minutes  of  4th  July  state  that  "  the  Society 
adjourned  to  Ross's  Hotel,  where  the  2pth  Anniversary  of  the  day  was  cele 
brated  with  a  suitable  entertainment,  Commodore  Truxton  and  Colonel  Trum 
bull  being  among  the  guests  and  that  after  the  dinner,  a  number  of  appropriate 
toasts  were  drank  and  the  evening  spent  in  that  harmony  and  social  glee,  which 
has  ever  distinguished  the  Society  on  that  auspicious  day." 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  IOI 

The  following  resolution  was  adopted  at  the  meeting  of  the  Society  on  the 
1 3th  July. 

Resolved,  That  in  future  Public  Processions  of  this  Society  the  following  order  be  observed, 
to  wit  : 

The  Sergeant  at  Arms. 

The  President. 

The  Standard  borne  by  an  officer  in  full  uniform. 

The  Secretary. 

The  Treasurer  and  the  Assistant  Treasurer. 

The  Standing  Committee. 

The  Members — two  and  two. 

The  Vice-President. 

It  was  also  at  the  same  meeting 

Resolved,  That  on  the  occasion  of  the  Society's  being  in  mourning  the  eagle  shall  be  worn 
on  the  left  breast,  the  ribbon  covered  with  crape,  a  crape  chevron  round  the  left  arm  above  the 
elbow,  to  be  worn  for  one  month. 


On  the  4th  of  July,  on  motion  of  Hamilton,  the  Committee  were  directed, 
in  case  of  a  favorable  report  upon  claims  for  admission  as  a  member 
of  right  (except  where  there  may  have  been  a  previous  admission  in  another 
State  Society),  to  report  specifically  the  ground  upon  which  they  conceive  the 
original  right  of  the  applicant  to  stand,  and  the  reason  which  may  have  pre 
vented  an  earlier  application  for  admission  if  any  delay  has  been. 


July  13. — The  death  of  Hamilton  was  announced,  and  a  special  meeting  of 
the  Society  was  called.  The  Society  was  requested  by  a  Committee  of  the 
Common  Council  of  the  City  of  New  York,  to  take  order  for  the  funeral  pro 
cession,  and  appointed  a  Committee  for  the  purpose.  At  their  request,  the 
Honorable  Gouverneur  Morris  delivered  the  eulogium  at  the  tomb  of  the  de 
ceased.  The  Society  adopted  resolutions  expressive  of  the  "  deepest  affliction  at  an 
event  which  has  deprived  them  of  their  most  illustrious  member,  their  country 
of  its  most  enlightened  and  useful  statesman,  and  the  world  of  one  of  those 
extraordinary  men  which  ages  have  seldom  produced."  Letters  were  addressed 
to  the  Vice- President-General,  and  to  the  other  State  Societies,  announcing  the 
sad  event,  and  the  deep  and  universal  sorrow  it  has  occasioned  in  this  Society, 
and  amongst  their  fellow  citizens  of  every  description.  At  the  request  of  the 
Society,  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  M.  Mason  delivered  an  oration  in  honor  of  the 
talents,  the  virtues,  and  the  eminent  services  of  this  great  man. 


IO2  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

The  Society  subsequently  erected  a  Mural  Tablet  in  Trinity  Church,  New 
York  City,  to  him  with  the  following  inscription  : 

THIS  TABLET 
does  not  profess  to  perpetuate 

the  Memory  of  a  Man 
to  whom  the  age  has  produced 

no  superior 

nor  to  emblazon  worth 
eminently  conspicuous  in  every  feature 

of  his  countrys  greatness 

nor  to  anticipate  prosperity  in  their 

judgment  of  the  loss  which  she  has 

sustained  by  his  premature  death 

BUT  TO  ATTEST 

in  the  simplicity  of  grief 

the  veneration  and  anguish   which  fill 

the  hearts  of  the  members  of  the 

NEW  YORK  STATE  SOCIETY  OF 

CINCINNATI 

on  every  recollection 

of  their  illustrious  Brother 

MAJOR  GENERAL 
ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 
OBIIT  1804  ^TATIS  47.  * 


On  August  2d,  a  letter  was  read  from  Edward  Roach,  late  Secretary  of 
the  Delaware  State  Society,  stating  that  that  Society  had  been  dissolved  long 
since,  and  the  funds  been  divided  among  the  members. 


The  following  was  adopted  on  the  5th  December  : 

Resolved,  That  all  future  resolutions  passed  in  this  Committee  shall  be  brought  forward  by 
the  mover  in  writing,  which  original  resolution  shall  be  preserved  on  file  as  vouchers  for  the 
entry  thereof  in  the  minutes. 


1805. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  a  Committee  appointed  at  a  former  meeting  to  make 
application  to  the  Legislature  for  an  Act  of  Incorporation^  was  discharged,  and 
a  new  Committee  requested  "  to  pursue  this  desirable  object  without  fail."f 


*  This  tablet  is  in  the  Robing  room.  The  Society  subsequently  in  1830,  subscribed  and  paid  one  hundred 
dollars  to  Hamilton's  monument  which  was  placed  in  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  N.  Y.  City. 

t  The  application  was  presented  to  the  Legislature,  but  without  success.  The  Society  determined,  however, 
to  persist  in  the  effort,  and  resolutions  to  this  effect  were  successively  adopted  in  1808,  1809,  1810,  1812,  1813,  1818, 
1819  and  1825.  The  applications  were,  however,  in  each  case  unsuccessful,  and  the  Society  remains  at  the  present 
day  unincorporated. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


103 


On  December  4th,  an  application  having  been  made  to  the  Standing 
Committee  by  the  widow  of  a  deceased  member  for  pecuniary  aid,  after  full 
consideration,  it  was  resolved,  that  she  has  no  claims  on  the  Society  merely  as 
the  widow  of  a  deceased  member,  "  that  the  funds  are  exclusively  reserved  for 
the  relief  of  indigent  members,  their  widows  or  children  upon  proof  being 
exhibited  of  their  situation  and  necessities." 


1806. 

On  the  4th  July,  a  form  of  certificate  of  membership  was  adopted  to  be 
endorsed  upon  the  back  of  the  original  diploma  in  cases  where  an  hereditary 
member  was  admitted  by  right  of  representation  of  the  original  member. 


On  Nov.  5th  it  was  represented  that  the  Connecticut  Society  had  been  dis 
solved,  and  their  funds  deposited  in  the  hands  of  a  trustee  subject  to  the  order 
of  the  individual  members,  according  to  their  respective  deposits. 


1810. 

By  a  resolution  passed  on  the  4th  July,  fifteen  members  being  present  shall 
hereafter  be  deemed  a  quorum  of  the  Society  competent  to  transact  business 
It  was  also  Resolved,  that  Captains  Fowler,  Bleecker,  Dunscomb,  Majors  Platt 
and  Fairlie  be  a  Committee  to  compile  a  new  publication  of  the  By-Laws,  pro 
ceedings  of  the  General  Society,  a  register  of  the  New  York  line  in  the  Revo 
lutionary  Army,  and  the  present  members  of  the  New  York  State  Society,  and 
for  the  better  enabling  them  to  carry  this  resolution  into  effect,  they  are  hereby 
authorized  to  have  free  access  to  the  bcoks  and  papers  of  the  Society. 


1813. 

On  the  5th  of  July  an  application  for  admission  was  presented  in  behalf  of  a 
younger  brother  of  the  original  member,  who  died  without  leaving  issue,  the 
elder  brother  having  renounced  in  his  favor.  The'  Society  dismissed  the  appli 
cation  as  "  not  within  the  purview  of  the  Constitution  or  the  rules  of  the 
Society."* 

*  In  August,  1818,  the  Standing  Committee  unanimously  adopted  a  different  conclusion  upon  the  same  point, 
and  recommended  the  admission  of  the  younger  representative,  in  whose  favor  the  elder  had  renounced  ;  and  on 
the  sth  of  July,  1819,  the  Society  adopted  their  recommendation,  and  admitted  the  younger  representative,  Charles 
Graham  a  nephew,  the  son  of  the  younger  brother  John  Graham,  who  as  well  as  his  elder  brother  Augustine 
Graham,  were  deceased. 


104  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


1815. 


On  Nov.  the  i5th,  it  was  resolved  that  three  Trustees  of  the  funds  of  the 
Society  be  appointed,  in  whose  name  all  the  funds  are  to  be  invested.  In  the 
absence  of  an  act  of  incorporation  the  Society's  funds  have  since  the  above 
date  continued  to  be  thus  invested. 


1816. 

In  i Si 6,  an  application  was  presented  for  admission  by  James  Smith,  only 
son  of  Surgeon  Isaac  Smith,  who  claimed  to  have  been  an  officer  in  the  Revolu 
tionary  Army,  and  who  had  died  about  the  year  1792,  without  having  united 
with  the  Society.  It  was  decided  that  the  father  having  declined  becoming  a 
member  of  the  Society  during  his  lifetime,  and  no  sufficient  reasons  being 
offered  for  his  having  so  declined,  his  rights  ought  to  be  considered  as  having 
expired  with  him. 


A  special  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  on  the  nth  of  June  for  the  pur 
pose  of  paying  their  respects  to  President  Monroe,  then  on  an  official  visit  in 
the  City  of  New  York.  A  procession  was  formed,  and  the  Society  in  a  body 
waited  upon  the  President,  when  an  address  was  made  to  him  in  behalf  of  the 
Society  by  a  Committee  for  that  purpose,  to  which  the  President  replied  as 
follows  : 

' '  The  opportunity,  which  my  visit  to  this  City  in  the  discharge  of  important  public  duties 
has  presented,  of  meeting  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  with  many  of  whom  I 
was  well  acquainted  in  our  Revolution,  affords  me  heartfelt  satisfaction.  It  is  impossible  to  meet 
any  of  those  patriotic  citizens  whose  valuable  services  were  so  intimately  connected  with  that 
great  event,  without  recollections  which  it  is  equally  just  and  honorable  to  cherish. 

'In  your  support  of  all  proper  measures  for  the  national  defence  and  advancement  of  the 
public  welfare,  I  have  the  utmost  confidence.  Those  whose  zeal  and  patriotism  were  so  fully 
tried  in  that  struggle  will  never  fail  to  rally  to  the  standard  of  their  country  in  any  emergency. " 


On  the  4th  July,  the  following  was  adopted  : 

Resolved,  That  the  officers  of  the  Revolutionary  War  bear  the  rank  that  they  respectfully  held 
during  that  war,  and  that  the  members  since,  by  right,  bear  the  title'of  Mr. 


1818. 

On  the  4th  July  the  President  read  to  the  Society  a  letter  from  His  Excel 
lency  De  Witt  Clinton,  Governor  and  Cotnniander-in-Chicf  of  the  State  of  New 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  105 

York,  covering  an  order  of  the  Adjutant-General,  relative  to  the  honors  to  be 
conferred  to  the  remains  of  General  Richard  Montgomery.     Whereupon  it  was 

Resolved,  That  Colonels  Stevens,  Trumbull,  Majors  Fish,  Platt  and  Fairlie,  and  Captain 
Fowler  be  a  Committee  with  unlimited  powers,  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements  for  paying 
the  last  Tribute  of  respect  to  the  remains  of  that  distinguished  hero  of  the  Revolution.  It  was 
also 

Resolved,  That  the  President,  CW^W^Varick,  Willett,  Giles  and  Trumbull,  Majors  Fish, 
Clarkson,  and  North,  and  Captain  Tiebout  be  the  pall-bearers. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Society,  held  24th  February,  on  motion  of  Colonel  Giles 
it  was 

Resolved,  That  whereas,  by  the  Constitution  of  this  Society  it  is  amongst  other  things  pro 
vided  as  follows,  viz. :  "  As  there  are  and  will  at  all  times  be,  men  in  the  respective  States  eminent 
for  their  ability  and  patriotism,  whose  views  may  be  directed  to  the  same  laudable  objects  with 
those  of  the  Cincinnati,  it  shall  be  a  rule  to  admit  such  characters  as  honorary  members  for  their 
lives  only."  That  this  Society  in  testimony  of  the  high  sense  which  it  entertains  of  the  patriotism, 
military  talents  and  ability  of  Major-General  Andrew  Jackson,  and  of  the  meritorious  services 
rendered  by  him  in  his  early  and  judicious  arrangements  for  the  defence  of  New  Orleans,  and 
his  gallant  defence  of  that  city  on  the  8th  January,  1815,  which  eventuated  in  the  entire  repulse, 
overthrow,  and  destruction  of  the  Veteran  British  Army  then  before  it,  thereby  greatly  exalting 
the  military  reputation  of  our  Country,  do  admit  him  and  he  is  hereby  admitted  an  honorary 
member  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati. 


On  the  5th  July,  on  motion  of  Major  Fairlie,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  Standing  Committee  shall  not  meet  to  exceed  four  times  in  each  year, 
extraordinary  occasions  excepted. 


1823. 


At  a  special  meeting  on  the  iSth  of  June,  called  to  take  into  consideration 
a  letter  addressed  to  the  N.  Y.  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  by  the  Honorable 
the  Corporation  of  the  City  of  New  York,  inviting  its  officers  and  members  to 
dine  with  them  at  the  City  Hall  on  the  coming  4th  of  July,  in  celebration  of  the 
Anniversary  of  American  Independence,  the  Standing  Committee  directed  its 
Chairman  and  Secretary  to  give  the  following  answer  : 

"  To   Jacob    Morton,    Esq.     For   the   Committee   of  Arrangements  of  the  Honorable  the  Cor 
poration  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

The  members  of  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  regret  that  it  will  not  be  in 
their  power  to  accept  the  polite  invitation  of  the  Honorable  the  Corporation,  to  dinner  on  the 
4th  day  of  July  next.  The  members  deem  it  respectful  to  assign  their  reasons  for  not  accepting 
an  invitation  from  such  a  distinguished  public  body  as  the  Corporation  of  the  City  of  New 
York. 


106  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

The  Society  was  instituted  for  the  avowed  object  of  cultivating  in  peace  those  affections, 
sympathies,  and  friendly  relations,  which  united  the  members  (who  were  officers  of  the  Revolu 
tionary  Army)  during  the  struggle  for  our  Independence,  and  the  Anniversary  of  that  Independ 
ence  was  from  the  first  organization  of  the  Society  selected  as  its  Anniversary,  in  order  that  the 
members  of  this,  and  other  Cincinnati  Societies,  and  the  Veterans  of  the  Revolution,  might  on 
that  day  assemble  together,  and  by  acts  of  mutual  kindness,  and  good  will,  and  the  recollections 
of  past  scenes,  cement  and  brighten  the  chain  which  has  so  long  bound  them  together. 

In  addition  to  which,  previous  to  the  receipt  of  the  invitation  of  the  Honorable  the  Corpor 
ation,  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  Society,  pursuant  to  the  By-Laws,  had  adopted  measures 
preparatory  to  the  approaching  Anniversary,  and  engaged  a  dinner,  which  would  of  itself,  deprive 
the  Society  of  the  honor  of  dining  with  the  Corporation." 

By  order  of  the  Standing  Committee, 

JOHN  TRUMBULL,  (Chairman}. 

DANIEL  E.  DUNSCOMB,  (Secretary). 


On  the  4th  of  July  an  application  for  admission  was  presented  by  a  nephew 
of  a  deceased  original  member  who  died  without  issue,  leaving  one  sister  of  the 
full  Mood,  and  six  brothers  and  sisters  of  the  half  blood.  The  applicant  was 
the  eldest  son  of  the  sister  of  the  full  blood.  The  Standing  Committee  on 
December  3,  unanimously  reported  in  favor  of  his  admission.* 


1824. 

At  the  Anniversary  meeting  of  July  5th,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Graham,  the 
following  preamble  and  resolution  was  adopted  : 

Whereas,  The  Congress  of  the  United  States,  in  accordance  with  the  sentiments  of  the 
Nation,  have  invited  d  neral  La  Fayette  to  visit  the  United  States,  and  it  having  been  repre 
sented  that  the  General  has  accepted  the  invitation  and  will  shortly  visit  this  city,  the  members 
of  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  his  associates  in  arms,  and  the  witnesses  of 
the  distinguished  and  valuable  services  rendered  to  this  country  by  General  La  Fayette  during 
that  arduous  struggle,  which  terminated  in  the  Independence  of  the  United  States,  are  desirous  to 
render  to  him  the  highest  honors  ;  therefor, 

Resolved,  Unanimously,  that  Morgan  Lewis,  John  Trumbull,  Philip  Van  Cortlandt,  Marinus 
Willett  and  Nicholas  Fish  be  a  committee  to  wait  upon  General  La  Fayette  on  his  arrival,  and  to 
assure  him  of  the  respect  and  esteem  which  is  entertained  for  him  by  the  members  of  this 
Society — to  introduce  him  to  the  Society  (which  the  President  will  convene  for  that  purpose) — 
and  generally  to  adopt  such  measures  as,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Committee,  may  conduce  to  his 
distinguished  reception,  and  render  his  visit  to  this  country  satisfactory. 

The  special  meeting  and  banquet  of  the  New  York  State  Society  was  held, 
agreeable  to  public  notice,  on  the  6th  September,  at  Washington  Hall,  for  the 
purpose  of  paying  that  tribute  of  respect  to  La  Fayette  which  his  services, 
during  and  since  our  glorious  Revolution,  justly  entitle  him.  The  members 
present  at  the  banquet  were  :  The  President,  Colonel  Varick  ;  the  Vice  Presi 
dent,  Colonel  Morgan  Lewis;  Captain  Theodosius  Fowler  {Treasurer},  Lieu 
tenant  Jonas  Addoms,  Lieutenant  Lebbeus  Loomis,  Captain  Leonard  Bleecker, 
Ensign  Jedidiah  Waterman,  Lieutenant  William  Torrey,  Lieutenant  William 


*  John  J.  Plume  in  right  of  Surgeon  Garret  Van  Wagenen. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  107 

Walton  Morris,  Lieut. -Colonel  Lewis  Morris,  Captain  Henry  Tiebout,  Major 
Nicholas  Fish,  Lieutenant  Samuel  Cooper,  Lieut.-Colonel  Robert  Troup,  Lieu 
tenant  Abijah  Hammond,  Lieutenant  William  Leaycraft,  Colonel  Simeon  De 
Witt,  Colonel  Philip  Van  Cortlandt,  Lieutenant  Abraham  Leggett,  Dr.  John  R. 
B.  Rodgers,  Lieutenant  Bezaleel  Howe,  Major  Richard  Platt,  Captain  James 
Brewster,  Captain  Ebenezer  Macomber,  Major  Matthew  Clarkson,  Dr.  James 
Davidson,  Captain  William  Popham,  Captain  Peter  Taulman,  Captain  Daniel 
Kemper,  Captain  Nathaniel  Norton,  Captain  Charles  Graham,  and  the  following 
hereditary  members  :  John  J.  Plume,  Horatio  Gates  Stevens,  Henry  S.  Dodge, 
Anthony  Lamb,  Brigham  Howe,  John  L.  C.  Hardy,  Alexander  Hamilton,  and 
Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  and  Jacob  Morton,  honorary  members. 


1825. 

General  La  Fayette  having  represented  to  the  Society  that  the  Baron 
D'Aurier,  a  lieutenant-general  in  the  armies  of  France,  had  served  in  the 
United  States  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution  as  an  officer  of  distinguished 
merit,  in  the  division  of  the  French  troops  then  commanded  by  General  the 
Count  Rochambeau,  and  as  allies  of  the  American  Army  under  the  immediate 
command  of  His  Excellency  General  Washington  at  the  capture  of  Yorktown, 
in  October,  1781,  and  that  the  said  Baron  D'Aurier  is  a  gentleman  of  very 
estimable  and  fair  character,  and  is  in  his  sentiments  a  patriot,  and  worthy  of 
being  enrolled  as  a  brother  among  the  surviving  officers  of  the  Army  of  the 
United  States  of  the  Revolution,  and  that  the  Baron  is  desirous  of  becoming 
an  honorary  member  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati. 

On  the  4th  July  this  Society,  in  testimony  of  the  high  sense  it  entertains 
of  the  political  principles,  the  fair  character  and  talents,  and  the  meritorious 
services  of  the  Baron  D'Aurier  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution  for  the  Inde 
pendence  of  the  United  States  of  America,  do  admit  him,  and  he  is  hereby 
admitted  an  honorary  member  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  : 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  preceding  resolution,  together  with  a  diploma,  with  the  usual 
certificate  endorsed  thereon  and  signed  by  the  President  of  this  Society,  be  delivered  to  our 
friend  and  brother,  General  La  Fayette,  with  a  request  that  he  will  be  pleased,  on  his  return  to 
France,  to  present  the  same  in  due  form  to  the  Baron  D'Aurier. 


At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Society,  held  on  the  2pth  October,  the  Society 
accepted  the  invitation  to  attend  the  celebration  of  the  opening  of  the  Erie 
Canal  on  November  4th. 


1826. 

On  the  4th  July,    Nicholas  Van  Rensselaer,  a  Lieutenant  in   the   ist   N.  Y. 
Regiment  of  the  Revolutionary  Army,  was  permitted  to  subscribe  his  signature 


I08  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

to  the  Institution  of  the  Society,  "  nunc  pro  tune"  as  an  original  member,  it 
appearing  that  he  was  an  original  member,  but  had  omitted  to  subscribe  to  it 
before. 


The  Society  then  adjourned  to  the  Common  Council  Chamber,  pursuant  to 
invitation  to  be  present  at  the  presentation  by  his  Honor  the  Mayor,  of  the 
Canal  Medal,  voted  by  the  Corporation,  to  the  children  of  the  late  Robert 
Fulton  (deceased),  and  subsequently  dined  with  the  Honorable  the  Corpor 
ation  of  the  City  of  New  York,  at  the  City  Hall. 


The  venerable  John  Adams  having  died  at  Quincy,  in  the  State  of  Massa 
chusetts,  on  the  4th  July  of  this  year,  and  Thomas  Jefferson  at  Monticello,  in 
the  State  of  Virginia,  on  the  same  day,  being  the  5oth  anniversary  of  that 
memorable  day  on  which,  both  the  above  named  venerated  Patriots  and  States 
men,  subscribed  the  Declaration  of  our  National  Independence,  and  the  Cor 
poration  of  the  City  having  determined  to  celebrate  so  remarkable  an  event  by 
a  procession,  and  appropriate  religious  services,  and  having  also  requested  the 
cooperation  of  this  Society,  the  following  was  issued  by  direction  of  the 
President  of  the  Society,  to  wit  : 

GENERAL  ORDER,  July  roth. 

The  members  of  the  Society  are  requested  to  meet  at  the  City  Hall,  on  Wednesday  morning 
next,  at  half  past  nine  o'clock,  to  unite  with  the  Honorable  the  Corporation,  in  paying  tributes 
of  respect  to  our  late  illustrious  fellow  citizens,  John  Adams  and  Thomas  Jefferson.  The  mem 
bers  to  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning. 

CHARLES  GRAHAM  (Secretary).  RICHARD  VARICK  (President}. 

The  religious  services  upon  the  above  occasion  were  performed  at  the 
Middle  Dutch  Church,  in  Nassau  Street,  consisting  of  a  prayer  by  the  Reverend 
Mr.  Shroader,  a  sermon  by  the  Reverend  Mr.  Rowan,  and  a  prayer  by  the 
Reverend  Mr.  Stanford. 


1828. 

His  Excellency  DeWitt  Clinton,  Governor  of  this  State,  having  departed 
this  life,  the  following  was  issued  on  the  i5th  of  February: 

GENERAL  ORDER. 

The  President  performs  the  melancholy  duty  of  announcing  to  the  Members  that  his  Excel 
lency  DeWitt  Clinton,  Governor  of  the  State,  and  a  member  of  this  State  Society,  departed  this 
life  at  Albany,  on  the  6th  instant. 

•^Governor  Clinton's  public  and  private  life  are  so  generally  known,  his  patriotism  and  love  of 
country  so  universally  admitted,  his  philanthropy  and  talents  so  justly  admired,  that  his  death  is 
at  this  time  to  be  mourned  as  a  national  loss,  while  his  attachment  to  the  members  of  the  Society, 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  109 

and  his  continued  exertion  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  the  Institution,   make  him  to  be 
regretted  as  a  personal  friend. 

The  members  of  the   Society  will  therefore  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty 
days,  to  evince  their  respect  for  his  memory. 

CHARLES  GRAHAM  (Secretary).  RICHARD  VARICK  (President).* 


On  the  4th  of  July,  Colonel  Trumbull  presented  to  the  Society  a  portrait 
—painted  by  himself— of  Bryan  Rossiter,  for  many  years  the  Sergeant-at 
Arms  of  the  Society.  This  portrait  is  now  in  the  custody  of  the  New  York 
Historical  Society. 


1829. 


8th  April,  Major  William  B.  Crosby  and  the  Secretary,  who  had  been  here 
tofore  appointed  a  Committee  to  procure  a  new  eagle  for  the  Standard  of  the 
Society,  reported  that  they  had  performed  the  duty  assigned  them,  and  produced 
an  eagle,  elegantly  gilt  upon  copper,  made  by  Nel  West,  a  rnechanic  of  this  city, 
whereupon  it  was  resolved,  that  said  report  be  accepted,  and  further,  that  the 
Chairman  draw  his  warrant  upon  the  Treasurer,  in  favor  of  Mr.  West,  for  thirty 
dollars,  the  amount  of  his  account  for  said  eagle,  and  that  the  Committee  be 
authorized  to  procure  a  new  and  lighter  chain,  to  suspend  the  Banner  of  the 
Society  to  the  said  eagle. 


1830. 

The  Society,  on  the  5th  July,  addressed  the  following  letter  to  Colonel 
Marinus  Willett :  f 

DEAR  SIR  :  The  Society  congratulate  you  upon  the  return  of  our  national  anniversary,  they 
feel  grateful  that  an  overruling  Providence  has  permitted  you  to  live  to  witness  this  54th  anni 
versary,  but  while  they  regret  that  your  infirmities  have  not  permitted  you  to  join  your  brothers 
in  the  public  celebration  of  the  day,  they  are  fully  sensible  that  no  one  feels  a  deeper  interest  in 
the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the  Nation  than  yourself.  The  members  of  the  Society  assure 
you  of  their  affectionate  regard  and  profound  respect. 

HORATIO  GATES  STEVENS  (Acting  Secretary).  RICHARD  VARICK  (President). 

*  A  discourse  commemorative  of  the  character  and  public  services  of  DeWitt  Clinton,  was  delivered  in  the 
Middle  Dutch  Church,  on  the  8th  of  November,  by  Dr.  David  Hosack,  and  attended  by  the  members  of  the 
Society. 

t  Colonel  Willett  died  22d  August,  1830,  seventeen  days  afterwards. 


110  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

1830. 

The  Society  addressed  the  following  letter  to  La  Fayette  : 

NEW  YORK,  December  4,  1830. 

To  Generally  FAYETTE — The  members  of  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati, 
a  remnant  of  your  comrades  in  the  war  which  raised  the  United  States  to  the  rank  of  a  free  and 
independent  nation  address  you  General,  at  this  time  with  no  common  emotions.  We  rejoice 
with  the  French  people,  and  with  the  friends  of  the  rights  of  man  throughout  the  civilized 
world,  at  the  victory  which  the  National  Guards  and  their  associates,  recently  obtained  over 
despotism.  Victory  is  common  to  the  brave,  but  the  forbearance  humanity  and  dignity  of  con 
duct  exercised  toward  the  conquered  in  the  late  Revolution,  created  in  us  heartfelt  joy,  mingled 
with  profound  respect  for  the  actors  in  that  great  and  happy  event ;  nor  do  we  less  appreciate 
the  wisdom  which  when  the  right  and  power  of  self-government  were  obtained,  calmed  the 
tempest  and  was  contented  to  enjoy  the  good  resulting  from  it.  And  more  especially  General, 
we  rejoice  that  you,  our  friend  and  compatriot,  have  been  active  in  promoting  the  forbearance 
and  humanity  which  so  eminently  distinguish  the  late  Revolution  from  all  others. 

We  pray  God  to  have  you  and  your  great  nation  in  his  especial  keeping  ;  to  frustrate  the 
machinations  of  the  unprincipled  and  interested  who  seek  to  plunge  France  into  a  sea  of  anarchy 
and  blood  ;  and  that  you  may  remain  in  peace,  and  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty.  Such  is  not  only  the  fervent  prayer  of  your  respectful  and  affectionate  comrades,  but  of 
the  whole  people  of  the  United  States. 

Receive  General,  the  assurance  of  the  distinguished  consideration  of  the  members  of  the 
Cincinnati  Society. 

By  order,  and  on  behalf  of  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati. 

CHARLES  GRAHAM  {Secretary).  RICHARD  VARICK  (President}. 


183.. 


GENERAL  ORDER. — The  following  was  issued  on  July  5th  : 

The  President  with  deep  and  sincere  regret-announces  to  the  members  of  the  Society,  that 
the  venerable  James  Monroe,  late  President  of  the  U.  S.,  and  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Society 
of  the  Cincinnati,  died  at  his  residence  in  this  city  yesterday  at  half-past  three  o'clock  p.  M., 
being  the  55th  anniversary  of  our  National  Independence. 

Mr.  Monroe  joined  the  army  of  the  Revolution  in  the  Fall  or  Winter  of  1776  as  a -volunteer, 
and  brought  with  him  from  Virginia  a  company  of  artillery,  which  he  raised  and  commanded, 
and  of  which  the  late  William  Washington  was  lieutenant.  Colonel  Monroe  sought  the  post  of 
danger  at  the  Battle  of  Trenton  on  the  26th  December,  1776,  and  greatly  distinguished  himself 
as  an  officer  in  that  action,  in  which  he  was  severely  wounded,  having  been  shot  through  the 
breast,  and  by  which  he  was  disabled  for  nearly  a  year.  After  hisyrecovery  he  was  appointed 
Aid-de-Camp  to  Major-General  Lord  Sterling,  and  continued  on  his  staff  for  some  time.  lie 
was  subsequently  elected  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  was  a  member  in  the  year 
I7&3>  when  Washington  resigned  his  commission  to  that  body.  After  the  war  Colonel  Monroe 
was  appointed  by  Washington,  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  the  Court  of  France,  and  was  subse 
quently  appointed  by  Madison,  Secretary  of  State,  from  1811  to  the  Fall  of  1814,  when  in  conse 
quence  of  the  war  with  Great  Britain,  in  which  the  United  States  were  then  engaged,  and  to  give 
greater  vigor  to  the  operations  of  the  War  Department,  he  was  appointed  Secretary  of  War,  and 
held  that  office  until  the  peace  of  1815,  when  he  was  again  placed  by  Madison  at  the  head  of  the 
Department  of  State. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  Ill 

Colonel  Monroe  was  installed  President  of  the  Uuited  States  on  the  4th  March,  1817,  and 
held  that  high  and  dignified  office  for  two  terms. 

The  members  of  the  Society  are  directed  to  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  a  deceased 
member  for  thirty  days,  to  attend  the  funeral  of  the  deceased  on  Thursday  next,  at  10  o'clock 
A.  M.,  from  the  place  to  be  appointed  for  that  purpose. 

CHARLES  GRAHAM  (Secretary).  RICHARD  VARICK  (President}. 


1832. 

GENERAL  ORDER. — The  following  was  issued  on  220!  February: 

The  members  of  the  Society  having  been  invited  by  the  Honorable,  the  Corporation  of  the 
City,  to  unite  with  them  in  celebrating  the  Centennial  return  of  the  birthday  of  the  Father  of 
his  Country,  General  WASHINGTON,  first  President  General  of  the  Society,  are  requested  to 
assemble  for  that  purpose  at  the  City  Hall  this  day,  at  ten  o'clock  precisely. 

CHARLES  GRAHAM  (Secretary).  MORGAN  LEWIS  (Acting  President}. 

The  Society  attended  the  Procession  in  pursuance  of  the  above  order.  The 
exercises  were  held  at  the  Middle  Dutch  Church,  and  consisted  of  a  prayer  by 
the  Reverend  Dr.  Kuypers,  an  ode,  composed  for  the  occasion  by  Samuel 
Woodworth,  was  sung  by  the  choir,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Earle,  an  oration 
by  Colonel  Morgan  Lewis.  An  anthem  being  sung,  the  ceremony  closed  with 
prayer  and  benediction  by  the  Reverend  Dr.  Milnor,  when  the  Procession 
resumed  its  march  back  to  the  City  Hall.  Brigadier-General  Gilbert  Hopkins 
being  the  Grand  Marshal  of  the  day.  The  vessels  in  the  harbor  were  deco 
rated  with  flags  from  sunrise  to  sunset.  Salutes  were  fired  from  the  Navy  Yard 
and  Governor's  Island.  The  City  Hall  clock  was  brilliantly  illuminated  from 
7  until  10  p.  M. 

Upon  the  occasion  the  Society  received  the  following: 

"  Captain  Belknap  of  the  Army  would  esteem  himself  honored  if  the  Cincinnati  Society  of 
New  York  and  the  soldiers  of  the  Army  of  the  Revolution  would  accept  of  the  services  of  the 
Military  Band,  attached  to  the  Post  he  commands,  during  the  celebration  of  the  Centennial 
Anniversary  of  the  birth  of  their  former  chief." 

Bedlow's  Island,  22  February,  1832. 


N.  Y.  STATE  SOCIETY  OF  THE  CINCINNATI,  24  August   1832. 
GENERAL  ORDER. 

The  President  announces  to  the  members  of  the  Society  that  Colonel  Samuel  Ward  of 
the  Rhode  Island  line  of  the  Continental  Army,  and  a  member  of  the  Rhode  Island  Society 
of  the  Cincinnati,  died  in  this  city  on  the  i6th  inst.,  in  the  y6th  year  of  his  age.  Colonel 
Ward  was  a  brave  and  useful  officer,  distinguished  for  firmness  of  purpose,  and  devoting 
in  early  life  his  talents  to  the  study  of  the  military  profession,  was  enabled  to  render  very  efficient 
aid  to  his  country  in  the  War  of  Independence.  In  May,  1775,  he  was  commissioned  as  Captain 
in  the  R.  I.  Army  of  observation — then  commanded  by  General  Greene— and  subsequently 
served  at  the  siege  of  Boston.  In  September  of  the  same  year  he  was  appointed  to  command  a 
Company  of  Volunteers,  and  joined  the  expedition  which  was  led  by  Colonel  Arnold-  by  the  Ken- 


112  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

nebec  and  the  Wilderness — to  Quebec.  In  the  attempt  to  storm  that  fortress  in  the  night  of  the 
3ist  of  December,  1775,  he  was  attached  to  Arnold's  command  and  was,  with  most  of  that 
detachment,  made  a  prisoner.  He  was  exchanged  in  1776,  and  in  January,  1777,  was  commis 
sioned  as  Major  of  Colonel  Greene's  Regiment  of  the  R.  I.  line  of  the  Army,  and  was  at  the 
battle  of  Red  Bank  on  the  22d  of  October.  In  1778  his  Regiment  was  ordered  to  the  defense  of 
his  native  State,  and  was  commanded  by  him  in  the  skirmishes  with  the  enemy  which  took  place 
on  General  Sullivan's  retreat.  In  1779  he  was  commissioned  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  served 
with  that  rank  until  1781,  when  he  retired  from  the  Army. 

The  members  of  this  Society  will,  to  evince  their  respect  for  the  memory  of  a  brother  officer, 
whose  remains  are  deposited  among  them,  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days. 

CHARLES  GRAHAM  (Secretary).  MORGAN  LEWIS  (President). 


1834., 


GENERAL  O.RDER. — On  2oth  June  the  following  was  issued  : 

The  President  with  the  most  unfeigned  regret  announces  to  the  members  of  the  Society, 
the  death  of  their  illustrious  associate  and  respected  friend,  General  La  Fayette,  who  died  at 
Paris  on  the  20  May  last,  in  the  77th  year  of  his  age.  It  is  impossible,  in  the  limits  of  an  order, 
to  give  even  a  sketch  of  the  life  of  him  whose  fame  has  spread  over  the  Globe,  and  whose  exploits 
have  shed  lustre  upon  two  Hemispheres,  nor  is  it  necessary.  Of  his  bravery  in  the  battles  in 
the  Revolution,  more  especially  at  Braidywine  and  Yorktown,  you  were  witnesses,  and  his  love 
of  this,  his  adopted  country,  and  his  affectionate  attachment  to  you,  his  brothers  in  arms, 
remains  indelibly  engraven  upon  your  hearts.  General  La  Fayette  was  a  true  disciple  of  repub 
lican  liberty  ;  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  abandoned  the  pleasures  of  the  Court  of  France,  the 
ease  and  enjoyment  of  rank  and  wealth,  and  joined  the  Americans  in  their  arduous  struggle  for 
independence.  He  united  his  destiny  with  yours  in  that  memorable  contest,  and  is  entitled  to  a 
large  share  of  its  honor  and  glory.  lie  became  the  adopted  son  of  our  venerated  Father, 
General  Washington,  and  it  is  remarkable  how  much  in  after  life,  and  in  the  revolutions  of  his 
native  land,  he  displayed  that  wisdom,  moderation,  modesty,  and  firmness,  which  he  had 
learned  from  his  adopted  parent.  General  La  Fayette  lived  to  witness  the  happiness  of  the 
country,  which  he  had  aided  in  laying  the  foundation,  and  his  late  visit  to  it  is  a  proud  monu 
ment  of  a  Nation's  gratitude  to  the  Nation's  guest. 

The  Secretary  will  cause  the  Banner  of  the  Society  to  be  shrouded  with  black,  and  the  mem 
bers  are  requested  to  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days  in  remembrance  of  their 
departed  companion. 

CHARLES  GRAHAM  (Secretary).  MORGAN  LEWIS  (President). 

The  Society  on  the  26th  of  June  convened  with  the  Common  Council  at 
the  City  Hall  to  pay  funeral  honors  to  La  Fayette.  A  procession  under  the 
Grand  Marshal  of  the  day,  Gilbert  Hopkins,  Esq.,  assisted  by  Brigadier-Gene 
rals  Garret  Striker,  John  Lott,  John  Lloyd,  Colonels  lsag,c  L.  Varian,.  Samuel 
D.  Jackson,  Willliam  L.  Morris,  Frederick  Pentz,  Nathan  B.  Graham  and 
Henry  P.  Robinson,  William  S.  Jones,  also  Lieutenant-Colonels  Morgan  L. 
Smith,  Andrew  Warner  and  Major  Robert  Brown,  moved  up  Chatham  Street 
and  the  Bowery,  to  Broome  Street  to  Broadway,  to  Castle  Garden,  where  the 
ceremonies  were  performed.  The  military,  under  the  command  of  Major- 
General  Jacob  Morton,  preceded  the  following  pall-bearers,  namely,  Morgan 
Lewis,  President  of  the  Cincinnati,  Colonels  John  Trumbull,  Simeon  De  Witt, 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  113 

William  North,  Majors  William  Popham,  Samuel  Cooper,  Captains  John  Van 
Dyck  and  Nathaniel  Norton,  all  of  whom  were  members  of  the  Cincinnati 
Society,  on  each  side  of  the  cenotaph — which  was  drawn  by  eight  cream- 
colored  horses.  Then  followed  the  Clergy,  the  Mayor  (Cornelius  W.  Lawrence), 
the  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  State — the  Hon.  James  Tall- 
madge,  the  orator  of  the  day — the  Common  Council — the  Board  of  Aldermen — 
the  Mayor  and  Common  Council  of  Brooklyn — the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati — 
Consul  of  France  and  French  residents — the  Judges  of  the  United  States, 
State  and  City  Courts — the  Recorder — Members  of  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States — Members  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
— Foreign  Ministers  and  Consuls — the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  State — Members 
of  the  Bar — U.  S.  Marshals — the  Sheriff  and  other  Officers  of  the  city — Offi 
cers  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  U.  S. — the  President,  Trustees  and  Faculty 
of  Columbia  College  and  the  New  York  University — the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons — the  Chamber  of  Commerce — Board  of  Trade — Officers  of  the 
Customs — Wardens — Harbor  Masters — the  Fire  Department — Marine  and 
other  Societies,  and  Citizens  of  New  York,  Brooklyn  and  other  cities.  The 
church  bells  were  tolled,  all  the  public  buildings,  as  well  as  all  the  vessels  in 
the  harbor,  had  their  colors  hoisted  half-mast,  and  all  business  was  suspended 
throughout  the  city. 


'      1836.    ;.;     .  -•.;•     .  V   ; 

On  the  4th  of  July,  John  Baptiste  Auguste — son  of  the  Baron  D'Aurier,  an 
honorary  member — was  elected  to  membership  in  the  New  York  State  Society, 
but  never  having  complied  with  the  requirements  of  the  Institution  by  signing 
his  name  to  the  same,  failed  to  avail  himself  of  the  honor. 


GENERAL  ORDER. — The  following  was  issued  the  3d  December  : 

The  President  with  deep  and  sincere  regard  announces  to  the  Members  of  the  Society, 
that  their  worthy  and  respected  friend,  Major  General  Jacob  Morton  died  this  morning  of 
apoplexy,  in  the  76  year  of  his  age.  His  death  was  awfully  sudden,  and  should  impress  upon 
those  who  survive,  the  great  truth  "in  the  midst  of  life  we  are  in  death,"  and  induce  them  to 
be  prepared — as  he  believes  the  General  was — for  their  final  account. 

General  Morton,  like  most  of  the  young  gentlemen  who  were  driven  from  this  City  by  the 
war  of  the  Revolution,  and  its  occupation  by  the  British,  studied  law  with  the  late  Judge  Patterson 
of  New  Jersey,  was  first  admitted  to  the  bar  of  New  Jersey,  and  afterwards  to  that  of  this  State, 
and  practiced  law  in  this  city  for  many  years.  He' received  his  first  commission  as  an  officer  in 
the  militia,  on  or  about  the  year  1786,  and  continued  in  commission  until  the  time  of  his  death. 
He  was  upon  duty  and  acted  as  one  of  the  Marshals  of  the  day,  at  the  Inauguration  of  General 
Washington,  which  took  place  in  this  city  on  the  soth  day  of  April,  1789.  He  was  afterwards 
Colonel  of  the  6th  Regiment  of  Infantry,  and  was  transferred  with  that  regiment  to  the  Artillery, 
and  upon  the  death  of  General  Ebenezer  Stevens,  was  appointed  in  1815  to  the  command  of  the 
ist  Division  of  the  Artillery  of  this  State.  He  served  as  a  Brigadier-General,  in  the  War  1812 
to  1815,  under  the  orders  of  the  President  of  this  Society,  who  was  honored  by  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  with  the  command  of  the  Military  District  which  included  the  City  of  New 


114  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

York.  The  President  of  the  Society  deems  it  justly  due  to  General  Morton  to  state,  that  whether 
in  peace  or  war  he,  and  the  troops  under  his  command  were  always  ready  to  defend  their  country, 
and  to  sustain  the  civil  authority  to  put  down  riot  or  civil  commotions.  In  civil  life,  General 
Morton  was  not  less  distinguished.  In  the  year  1795  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Assembly  from  this  city,  and  in  1797  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  late  Governor  Jay,  an  Act 
was  passed  concentrating  all  the  powers  of  the  Justices  of  the  Peace  in  relation  to  Civil  Suits, 
into  a  Court  of  Justices  of  the  Peace,  to  be  held  daily  at  the  City  Hall  and  General  Morton,  the 
late  John  Wells,  James  Morris,  William  Johnson  and  Samuel  Jones,  were  appointed  the  Judgesof 
it.  After  filling  the  offices  of  Alderman,  Comptroller  and  City  Inspector  in  1816,  he  was 
appointed  the  Clerk  of  the  Common  Council  of  this  City,  which  office  he  held  for  more  than  twenty 
years  and  until  his  decease. 

In  private  life  he  was  the  urbane  and  accomplished  gentleman,  an  affectionate  husband,  a 
kind  father,  hospitable  to  stranger?,  a  friend  of  the  poor  and  a  sincere  Christain,  and  in  everyway 
deserving  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his  fellow  citizens,  and  of  the  members  of  this  Society  of 
which  he  was  an  honorary  member. 

The  funeral  will  take  place  from  No.  9  State  Street,  on  the  6th  December,  at  2  P.  M.,  and 
members  of  this  Society  are  requested  to  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days  in 
honor  of  their  deceased  associate. 

CHARLES  GRAHAM  (Secretary).  MORGAN  LEWIS  (President). 


1837- 


An  application  being  made  for  admission  by  Count  Gabrowski,  claiming  in 
right  of  his  father  Count  Gabrowski,  as  having  served  under  the  Duke  de 
Luzerene,  the  Secretary  addressed  a  letter  to  the  President-General,  requesting 
information  with  respect  to  the  succession  from  the  officers  of  the  French  Army, 
who  were  admitted  members  of  the  Society,  and  received  the  following  reply  :  * 

CIIAS.  GRAHAM,  Esq.  (Secretary).  JERSEY  CITY,  May  22,  1837. 

SIR  :  Yours  under  the  post-mark  of  May  5th,  1837,  has  been  duly  received  and  on  examina 
tion,  I  find  from  the  minutes  of  the  General  Society,  that  the  Society  was  established  by  the 
officers  of  the  American  Army  who  signed  the  Institution,  and  at  the  same  time  a  draft  on  the 
Paymaster-General  for  one  month's  pay  according  to  their  several  grades,  who  combined  them 
selves  into  one  Society  of  Friends,  to  endure  as  long  as  they  shall  endure,  or  any  of  their  male 
posterity. 

There  is  in  the  original  Institution,  a  provision,  of  which,  I  now  enclose  a  copy. f  From  this 
provision  it  would  seem  that  the  extension  of  the  order,  should  be  confined  to  the  persons 
designated  therein,  for  otherwise  there  can  be  no  limit,  and  it  cannot  be  presumed  that  the 
President-General,  without  authority  so  to  do,  transmitted  a  medal  to  any  not  named  in  the  pro 
vision,  or  who  had  not  been  a  General  or  Colonel  in  the  Army  commanded  by  Count  Rochambeau. 
Besides,  there  is.  no  provision  that  the  right  of  membership  should*  descend  to  the  posterity  of 
the  persons  designated  in  the  enclosed  provision,  and  the  adoption  of  such  a  rule  now,  might 
place  the  Society  in  great  future  difficulties,  but  if  otherwise,  this  right  can  only  be  proved,  by 


*  "I  he  application  of  Count  Gabrowski  was  referred'back  to  him  by  the  Committee,  for  further  information  as 
to  the  rank  of  his  father  in  Rochambeau's  Army,  which  never  has  as  yet  been  acknowledged. 

t  This  enclosure  was  the  extract  from  the  original  Institution,  naming  the  Chevalier  de  Luzerne  and  others, 
including  the  Count  Rochambeau,  and  other  Generals  and  Colonels  of  his  Army,  to  whom  the  medal  was  to  be 
sent,  and  who  were  considered  as  members. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  115 

the  production  of  the  medal,  which  was  doubtless  sent  to  every  officer  in  the  French  Army  who 
was  entitled  to  it,  or  accounting  for  its  loss. 

I  know  of  no  list  of  the  names  of  the  officers  of  the  French  Army,  who  were  admitted  mem 
bers  of  the  Society,  other  than  as  contained  in  the  enclosed  provision,  nor  of  any  such  prepared 
by  General  Knox,  but  if  such  an  one  was  prepared  at  the  time,  it  must  have  been  confined  to  the 
Generals  and  Colonels,  in  Count  Rochambeau's  army. 

I  am,  Sir,  very  respectfully, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

AARON  OGPEN. 


1838. 


GENERAL  ORDER. 


It  has  become  the  painful  duty  of  the  President  of  the  Society  to  announce  to  its  members  the 
recent  and  lamented  death  of  the  Honorable  Major-General  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  an  honorary 
Member  of  this  Society,  and  the  oldest  officer  in  rank  of  the  militia  of  this  State. 

Our  country  has  given  birth  to  few  individuals,  if  any,  whose  loss  will  be  more  sincerely  and 
universally  regretted  and  deplored.  As  a  man,  he  was  in  disposition  mild,  unassuming,  benevo 
lent,  and  liberal  in  the  extreme.  As  a  patriot,  his  valuable  services  were  promptly  devoted  to  his 
Country,  both  in  peace  and  war.  In  his  civic  character,  the  records  of  his  Country  will  exhibit 
him  for  years  presiding  over  the  Senate  of  his  native  State,  and  also  over  many  of  their  most 
important  institutions.  In  his  military  capacity,  we  find  him  among  the  first  in  war,  exchanging 
the  joys  and  comforts  of  domestic  life,  amid  a  numerous,  amiable  and  interesting  offspring,  for 
the  toils,  privations,  sufferings  and  dangers  of  the  tented  field. 

Born  in  princely  inheritance,  his  vast  available  income  was  ever  disbursed  with  unbounded 
munificence  in  charities  and  donations  to  aid  the  moral,  intellectual,  physical  and  religious  ad 
vancement  of  the  human  family,  without  the  semblance  of  ostentation  or  unworthy  selfishness. 
In  friendship  he  was  sincere,  to  simulation  a  stranger,  bearing  always  figuratively,  but  truly,  his 
heart  in  his  hand  free  from  all  disguise.  Intimately  known  to  the  President  from  years  of  early 
boyhood,  he  can  assert  with  confidence  that  the  whole  tenor  of  his  life  was  an  illustration  of  those 
virtues  and  graces  which  elevate,  adorn  and  dignify  the  human  character. 

The  Members  of  the  Society  are  requested  to  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty 
days. 

CHARLES  A.  CLINTON  (Secretary).  MORGAN    LEWIS  (President). 


1840. 

At  the  Anniversary  meeting,  it  was  proposed  that  the  eldest  sons  or  grand 
sons  of  the  original  members  of  this  Society  be  admitted  by  courtesy,  to  attend 
the  future  meetings  of  the  same  in  their  absence,  whereupon  on  motion,  it  was 
resolved  that  the  adoption  of  the  same  is  inexpedient. 


i843. 


GENERAL  ORDER,  November  i3th. 

The  President  with  deep  regret  announces  to  the  Members  of  this  Society  the  death  of  their 
venerable  friend  Colonel  John  Trumbull,  an  original  member,  who  departed  this  life  on  Friday- 
morning,  the  loth  inst.,  after  a  protracted  illness,  in  the  87th  year  of  his  age. 


Il6  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Colonel  Trumbull  at  an  early  period  of  our  Revolutionary  struggle,  entered  the  Army,  and 
was  attached  to  the  military  family  of  General  Washington,  whose  warm  regard  he  maintained 
'till  the  close  of  the  War.  His  military  life  is  so  familiar  to  most  of  our  citizens,  that  it  would  be 
superfluous  to  recapitulate  ;  sufficient  to  say,  that  in  all  his  capacities  he  was  a  distinguished  and 
meritorious  man,  as  well  as  an  exemplary  Christian. 

The  Society  will  be  debarred  the  melancholy  satisfaction  of  attending  his  respected  remains 
to  the  grave,  they  having  at  his  request  been  removed  to  New  Haven,  but  they  will  wear  the  usual 
badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days. 

EDWARD  P.  DE  MARCELLIN  {Secretary).  MORGAN  LEWIS  (President}. 


At  the  Anniversary  meeting  of  the  Society,  Captain  William  Popham  was 
chosen  President  in  the  place  of  Colonel  Morgan  Lewis,  deceased.  Whereupon  he 
made  the  following  address  : 

GENTLEMEN  :  The  death  of  our  late  regretted  President  who  hath  descended  to  the  grave 
full  of  years  and  full  of  honors,  has  in  the  course  of  ordinary  events  called  on  me  (unfit  as  I  am) 
to  take  his  place  and  attempt  to  discharge  the  duties  of  his  office.  It  is  now  sixty-five  years  since 
I  first  associated  myself  with  the  gallant  band  who  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Society  which  you 
now  compose,  a  Society  formed  at  a  time  and  under  circumstances  which  find  no  parallel  in  the 
annals  of  any  nation  on  earth. 

At  the  glorious  termination  of  the  war,  which  for  seven  years  had  been  maintained  against  the 
most  powerful  of  nations,  against  the  evils  of  poverty,  destitution,  privation,  and  the  absence  of 
every  comfort  which  can  render  life  desirable,  with  a  firmness  and  fortitude  of  which  we  can  pro 
duce  no  example,  it  became  necessary  to  disband  this  gallant  army,  Congress  unable  to  comply 
with  their  engagements,  dismissed  them  without  pay  or  emolument  of  any  kind. 

The  army  then  lay  in  the  vicinity  of  Fishkill,  Newburg,  New  Windsor  and  West  Point,  the 
headquarters  at  New  Windsor,  the  order  was  issued  that  the  army  be  forthwith  disbanded  and 
marched  to  their  respective  homes  in  squads,  under  the  command  of  commissioned  and  non-com 
missioned  officers  to  prevent  disorder,  that  their  pay  of  necessity  was  reduced  to  forty  for  one, 
with  the  promise  of  ample  justice  when  the  state  of  the  country  would  admit.  This  was  received 
without  an  audible  murmur.  After  a  few  days  a  second  order  was  issued  requiring  all  the  officers 
within  its  reach  to  meet  the  General  at  headquarters  ;  this  order  was  also  obeyed.  After  we  had 
all  collected,  the  General  produced  a  letter,  which  was  read  by  his  order  (if  I  mistake  not)  by 
Colonel  Humphreys.  This  letter  contained  sentiments  the  most  inflammatory  which  the  writer  could 
possibly  indite.  After  stating  the  toils,  the  labors  and  patience  of  the  army  during  a  seven  years' 
war,  which  had  terminated  in  the  glorious  independence  of  their  country,  they  were  dismissed  and 
sent  home  more  like  mendicants  than  a  victorious  army,  that  their  applications  and  remonstrances 
to  Congress  for  the  fulfilment  of  their  contract,  or  relief  of  their  wants,  was  rejected  ;  he  advised, 
he  called  on  the  officers  not  to  lay  down  their  arms  or  disband  their  troops,  but  to  march  to  Phila 
delphia  and  invest  the  Senate  Chamber,  and  demand  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  what  their  humble 
solicitation  failed  to  obtain,  then  to  return  to  the  wilds  of  our  country  and  establish  themselves  as 
a  Military  Colony.  > 

This  letter,  the  General  commented  upon  with  his  usual  dignity,  represented  the  glorious 
character  the  army  had  obtained  in  the  eyes  of  every  nation  on  earth,  by  their  successful  fortitude 
and  forbearance,  from  which  a  step  like  this  would  precipitate  them  into  contempt.  He  urged 
them  to  persevere  in  the  course  they  had  pursued — that  he  should  never  lose  sight  of  their  merits 
— nor  fail  to  use  his  utmost  exertion  to  procure  for  them  full  and  perfect  justice,  so  soon  as  the 
state  of  the  country  permitted. 

Previous  to  the  separation  of  the  officers,  a  few,  with  General  Knox  and  Colonel  Hamilton, 
retired  and  prepared  to  form  the  Society  which  you  now  sustain — the  Constitution  which,  when 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  117 

drawn  up,  was  submitted  to  the  General,  who  approved  and  sanctioned  it  with  his  signature.  It 
was  intended  to  perpetuate  the  friendship  which  had  subsisted  in  times  the  most  trying  and 
afflictive,  in  the  gloomy  hour  of  retreat  as  the  joyful  shout  of  victory — to  transmit  that  friendship 
to  our  latest  posterity — and  to  relieve  the  wants  of  the  necessitous  and  indigent  widows  and 
orphan  children  of  such  of  our  brothers  as  had  fallen  in  the  field  of  battle,  for  which  purpose  each 
officer  agreed  to  pay  into  the  hands  of  a  treasurer  to  be  appointed,  so  soon  as  they  should  be 
enabled,  one  month's  pay,  to  form  a  fund  for  that  purpose,  and  I  record  it  with  pleasure,  that 
the  droppings  of  that  little  fund  has  caused  the  heart  of  many  a  widowed  mother  to  sing  for  joy. 
Of  this  gallant  band  I,  through  the  good  providence  of  God,  have  been  spared  as  the  last  and  only 
survivor,  and  while  I  look  round  in  vain  for  those  friends  of  my  youth,  the  companions  of  my 
early  schoolboy  days  -  who  had  devoted  their  lives  to  the  service  of  their  country—  and  breathe  a 
sigh  of  sorrow  and  sympathy  for  their  premature  fate,  my  heart  bounds  with  rapturous  delight  to 
behold  so  many  of  their  posterity,  who  have  sprung  up  like  the  plants  of  the  Garden  of  Eden, 
clustering  around  the  standard  of  their  country's  freedom,  who  have  sworn  on  her  altar,  that  the 
glorious  and  untarnished  standard,  which  they  have  received  from  their  fathers,  they  will,  by  God's 
help,  transmit,  unstained  to  their  posterity. 

I  lament  to  say  that  some  of  the  members  of  this  Society  have  expressed  a  wish,  and  urged  the 
dissolution  of  this  Institution,  and  of  dividing  its  funds  among  its  members.  Perish  the  thought  ! 
No  !  Never  while  I  live,  though  I  shall  through  the  natural  infirmities  of  extreme  old  age  bj 
denied  the  power  of  appearing  in  it  again,  I  will  never  consent  to  consign  to  eternal  oblivion  aa 
Institution  which  has  received  the  sanction  of  Washington,  and  been  consecrated  by  his  own 
signature.  No?  I  consider  this  greatly  undervalued  Institution  as  an  integral  portion  of  the  soil 
in  which  the  glorious  tree  of  our  country's  liberty  was  originally  planted,  which  has  taken  deep 
root  and  whose  branches  have  extended  to  the  utmost  boundaries  of  the  habitable  globe. 

I  consider  it  as  the  Alma  Mater  of  the  greatest  and  most  resplendent  empire  that  the  world 
has  ever  seen,  an  empire  that  hath  sprung  up  from  cradled  infancy  to  the  meridian  of  gigantic 
manhood.  \Vhere  shall  be  found  a  country  in  which  such  successful  enterprise  is  exhibited  ? 
Where  shall  we  find  a  spot  of  navigable  water  in  which  the  spangled  banner  of  the  United  States 
has  not  sported  in  the  breeze  ?  Where  is  the  country  of  interminable  extent  through  which  an 
army  of  one  hundred  thousand  men  can  be  collected,  at  any  point  of  yon  sea-coast,  if  necessary, 
within  forty-eight  hours,  to  repel  the  invading  foe,  by  means  of  canals,  railroads,  and  steamboat, 
erected  in  the  short  space  of  less  than  four  hundred  years  ?  A  country  which  has  introduced  a 
river  forty  miles  underground,  to  adorn  their  capital  city  and  rejoice  the  hearts  of  her  citizens. 
Nothing  would  be  easier  than  to  pursue  this  delightful  subject,  but  I  have  imposed  too  long  on 
your  patience,  and  have  exhausted  myself.  I  have  only  to  add,  that  as  in  the  course  of  human 
events,  I  now  at  the  close  of  my  ninety-second  year,  may  not  be  permitted  to  see  your  faces  again 
in  this  world.  I  shall  hope  to  meet  you  in  that  eternal  world,  where  we  shall  see  no  more  through 
a  glass  darkly,  but  face  to  face,  where  we  shall  know  even  as  we  are  known. 


1845. 


GENERAL  ORDER,  2ist  June. 


The  President,  with  heartfelt  regret,  announces  to  the  members  of  the  Society  the  death  of 
Major-General  Andrew  Jackson,  of  Tennessee,  which  melancholy  event  took  place  at  his  residence 
(the  Hermitage)  on  the  8th  inst.,  full  of  years  and  honors. 

In  consideration  of  the  distinguished  military  achievements  of  General  Jackson,  he  was 
unanimously  elected,  an  honorary  member  of  this  Society,  on  the  24th  February,  1819. 

Our  country  has  given  birth  to  few  individuals  whose  loss  will  be  more  sincerely  and  univer- 
versally  regretted.  As  a  patriot,  his  valuable  services  were  devoted  with  untiring  zeal  to  the 
cause  of  his  country,  which  may  with  pride  look  back  to  his  career  as  a  conquering  and  triumphant 
chieftain.  His  civil  life  was  not  less  distinguished  for  its  devotion  and  fidelity. 

The  members  of  this  Society  are  requested  to  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty 
days . 

EDWARD  P.  MARCELLIN  (Secretary).  WILLIAM  POPHAM  (President). 


Il8  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


1846. 


At  the  Anniversary  meeting  it  was 

Resolved,  that  a  committee  of  two  be  appointed  to  have  250  copies  of  the  constitution  and 
by-laws  of  the  Society  printed,  with  such  other  documents  as  they  may  think  proper,  together 
with  an  historical  statement  of  such  of  the  principal  incidents  in  the  proceedings  of  this  Society, 
as  they  may  think  advisable,  and  also  a  list  of  the  officers  and  members  of  the  Society,  from  its 
institution  to  the  present  period.* 


1848. 


GENERAL  ORDER,  March  ;th. 


The  remains  of  the  Honorable  John  Quincy  Adams  will  pass  through  this  city  to-morrow, 
and  it  is  proper  that  the  Cincinnati  Society  should  unite  with  their  fellow  citizens  in  rendering 
appropriate  honors  to  the  memory  of  this  illustrious  statesman,  who  has  been  so  highly  dis 
tinguished  for  his  pre-eminent  talents,  the  purity  of  his  character,  his  elevated  patriotism  and 
his  devotion  to  the  great  interests  of  our  country  during  his  long  and  useful  life. 

The  members  of  the  Society  are  therefore  requested  to  assemble  at  the  City  Hall  to-morrow 
(Wednesday)  at  I  o'clock  p.  M.,  with  the  usual  badge  of  mourning,  for  the  purpose  of  joining-in 
the  solemnities  which  will  be  observed  on  that  melancholy  occasion. 

EDWARD  P.  DE  MARCELLIN  (Secretary).  ANTHONY  LAMB  (President). 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Standing  Committee,  on  the  i4th  of  November,  the 
Secretary  stated  that  he  had  received  a  letter  from  the  Trustees  of  the  Rock- 
land  Cemetery,  offering  the  Society  the  gift  of  400  feet  (superficial)  of  ground, 
for  the  use  of  the  Society,  together  with  a  certificate  of  the  gift.  Whereupon 
it  was 

Resolved,  that  the  Secretary  be  authorized  to  accept  the  same,  in  the  name  of  the  Society,  and 
to  make  choice  of  a  proper  site. 


At  the  Anniversary  meeting  the  following  was  adopted  : 

> 

Resolved,  That  the  Pedro  Du  Quesne,  resident  of  Havana,  be  admitted  a  member  of  this 
Society  in  right  of  his  father,  the  Marquis  Du  -Quesne,  but  inasmuch  as  the  latter  never  belonged 
to  any  State  Society,  nor  even  contributed  to  its  funds,  it  was  ordered,  the  applicant  contribute 
a  month's  pay  of  a  Captain  of  the  ATavy,  to  the  treasury  of  the  Society,  f 

*  The  Treasurer,  Hamilton   Fish,  and  the  Secretary,  Edward   P.  de  Marcellin,  were  subsequently  appointed 
such  committee,  and  on  the  4th  of  July,  1851,  reported  they  had  completed  their  labors  and  produced  the  same. 

t  The  applicant  died  without  availing  himself  of  the  honor  of  becoming  a  member. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  119 

GENERAL  ORDER,  July  zoth. 

It  is  with  the  most  painful  sensations  that  the  President  announces  to  the  members  of  the 
Society,  the  death  of  General  Zachary  Taylor,  President  of  the  United  States,  and  an  honorary 
member  of  our  Society,  who  died  on  the  evening  of  the  gth  inst.,  after  an  illness  of  five  days. 

The  loss  of  General  Taylor  at  this  time,  appears  to  be  irreparable,  as  from  the  moderation, 
•wisdom,  patriotism,  purity  and  firmness  of  his  character,  he  had  the  full  confidence  of  the  Nation, 
and  was  well  qualified  to  conduct  it  through  the  storm,  which  is  raging  in  our  political  atmos 
phere,  which  if  not  put  at  rest,  will  endanger  the  property  and  happiness  of  our  glorious  union. 

The  members  of  the  Society  will  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  the  death  of  this 
illustrious  man  for  thirty  days. 

ED.  P.  DE  MARCELLIN  (Secretary).  ANTHONY  LAMB  (President}. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Standing  Committee  on  the  4th  November,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  a  committee,  consisting  of  Colonel  Horatio  G.  Stevens.  Governor  Fish,  Dr.  J. 
Kearney  Rodgers,  and  the  Secretary.be  appointed  to  confer  with  Henry  A.  S.  Dearborn,  the 
President  General  oi  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  on  the  subject  of  preparing  a  stone  with  suita 
ble  inscriptions,  to  be  presented  to  the  national  Washington  monument,  now  in  course  of  erec 
tion  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  on  the  part  of  the  Society. 


1851. 


At  the  Anniversary  meeting,  the  New  York  State  Society  adopted  the  fol 
lowing  : 

Whereas,  The  General  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  at  their  meeting  held  in  the  City  of  New- 
York  on  the  "th  and  8th  days  of  May,  1851,  adopted  "  an  ordinance  relative  to  the  succession  and 
admission  of  members ,"  which  has  been  transmitted  to  this  Society  (accompanied  by  the  report  of 
a  committee  upon  the  subject),  for  its  approval  and  ratification,  and 

Whereas,  This  Society  is  of  opinion  that  the  adoption  of  the  said  ordinance  by  the  several 
State  societies  will  tend  to  a  uniform  and  harmonious  action  between  the  several  societies,  will 
in  some  degree  restore  the  diminished  numbers  of  the  Society,  and  will  the  better  ensure  the 
great  object  contemplated  by  its  founders  of  transmitting  and  perpetuating  the  friendships  found 
under  the  pressure  of  common  dangers  ;  therefore 

Resolved,  That  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  do  hereby  approve  and  ratify 
the  aforesaid  ordinance,  and  do  adopt  the  same.  But  inasmuch  as  the  approval  and  ratification 
of  the  said  ordinance,  by  all  of  the  State  societies,  is  essential  to  its  adoption  as  a  rule  for  future 
action,  in  the  admission  of  members  to  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  the  adoption  of  the  said 
ordinance  by  this  Society  is  upon  condition,  and  with  the  express  declaration,  that  the  same  shall 
be  approved,  ratified,  and  adopted,  by  each  and  every  one  of  the  remaining  State  Societies, 
before  it  shall  be  considered  as  a  rule  of  action  for  the  governance  or  control  of  this  Society. 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  do  transmit  an  authenticated  copy  of  the  foregoing  preamble 
and  resolution,  to  the  Secretary-General  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  also  to  the  Secretaries  of  each  of 
the  remaining  State  Societies  ;  and  that  he  do  respectfully  request  of  each  of  the  last-named 
Secretaries,  to  be  informed  of  what  action  may  have  been  had  in  their  respective  societies  upon 
the  subject  of  the  before-mentioned  ordinance  and  report.* 


*  This  ordinance  not  having  received  the  approval  of  all  the  State  .Societies  became  inoperative. 


120  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

The  following  was  moved  by  Mr.  Alexander  Hamilton  at  the  same  meeting, 
but  was  unanimously  lost  : 

That  the  4th  Canon  or  resolution  authorizing  "  the  admission  of  all  the  lineal  male  descend 
ants  of  the  Revolutionary  officers,  and  all  the  male  lineal  descendants  of  those  Revolutionary  offi 
cers  who  became  members  of  the  Cincinnati  Society  at  its  original  organization,"  be  reconsidered, 
and  that  the  same  may  be  referred  to  a  special  committee.  (See  ante,  page  54.) 


1852. 


GENERAL  ORDER,  July  2d. 


The  Corporation  of  this  City  having  decided  to  render  appropriate  honors  to  the  memory  of 
the  Honorable  Henry  Clay,  deceased,  who  has  been  so  highly  distinguished  for  his  preeminent 
talents,  the  purity  and  disinterestedness  of  his  patriotism,  and  his  uniform  devotion  to  the  great 
interests  of  the  country  during  his  long  and  useful  life,  and  the  members  of  our  Society,  being 
descendants  of  those  patriots  who  fought  the  battles  of  the  Revolution,  which  secured  to  our 
beloved  country  its  independence  and  the  power  to  establish  our  glorious  Union,  and  as  this 
distinguished  patriot  tus  on  all  occasions,  by  his  great  talents,  his  energy  and  perseverance, 
eminently  contributed  to  sustain  and  preserve  that  Union,  it  is  therefore  proper  that  we  should 
unite  with  our  fellow-citizens  in  rendering  the  highest  honors  to  his  memory. 

The  members  or  this  Society  will  assemble  at  the  City  Hall  to-day,  at  the  hour  designated  by 
the  Committee  of  the  Corporation  in  their  advertisement  in  the  papers,  for  the  ceremonies  to  take 
place,  for  the  purpose  of  joining  in  the  solemnities  to  be  observed  on  the  melancholy  occasion. 

EDWARD  P.   DE  MARCELLIN  (Secretary).  ANTHONY  LAMB  (President). 


An  application  for  membership  having  been  received  from  Theodore  Gentil 
on  the  loth  November,  it  was  referred  to  Theodosius  O.  Fowler  to  investigate, 
who  subsequently  submitted  the  following  report: 

At  the  last  semi-annual  meeting  of  the  Standing  Committee,  on  application  having  been 
made  by  Mr.  Theodore  Gentil  for  admission  to  the  Society  in  right  of  his  grandfather,  Colonel 
Stephen  Rochefontaine,  it  was  referred  to  the  undersigned  to  ascertain  if  the  claim  preferred  by 
him  was  sufficiently  valid  to  entitle  him  to  be  elected  as  a  member,  provided  no  other  impediment 
existed.  The  undersigned  finds  that  in  St.  Domingo,  where  the  mother  of  the  applicant  was 
born,  she  was  known  to  many — who  subsequently  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution  in  that 
Island  emigrated  to  this  country — as  the  only  daughter  of  Colonel  Rochefontaine — among  whom 
was  Francis  Depau,  late  father-in-law  to  the  undersigned — John  B.  Cazaula,  Editor  of  the  Courier 
des  Etats  Unis,  states  that  he  knew  Madame  Gentil  well  and  all  her  antecedents,  and  is  perfectly 
convinced  of  her  identity  with  the  only  daughter  of  Colonel  Stephen  Rochefontaine. 

Mr.  Gentil  has  submitted  to  the  undersigned  the  commission  of  -Stephen  Rochefontaine  as 
a  Lieut-Colonel  in  the  Army  of  the  Revolution,  and  the  Diploma  he  received  as  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  both  signed  by  George  Washington. 

The  claim  of  Mr.  Gentil,  to  be  the  only  lineal  descendant  of  Colonel  Stephen  Rochefon 
taine,  appears  to  the  undersigned  fully  establi'shed.  The  character  of  Mr.  Gentil  as  a  man  and 
gentleman  render  him  in  every  way  worthy  of  being  elected.* 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

THEODOSIUS  O.   FOWLER. 


*  Mr.  Gentil  was  admitted  on  the  following  4th  July. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  121 

'  1854. 

The  following  was  adopted  at  the  Anniversary  meeting  : 

Whereas,  The  General  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  at  their  triennial  meeting  held  in  Balti 
more  on  the  17th  day  of  May,  1854,  adopted  the  three  following  resolutions,  viz.  : 

I.  Resolved,  That  each   State  Society  shall   have  the  full  right   and  power  to  regulate  the 
admission   of  members,   both   as   to   qualifications  of  members   and   the    terms   of   admission  ; 
Provided,   That  admission  be  confined  to  the  male  descendants  of  original  members  or  of  those 
who  are  now  members  (including  collateral  branches  as  contemplated  by  the  original  constitu 
tion),  or  to  the  male  descendants  of  such  officers  of  the  army  or  navy  as  may  have  been  entitled 
to  admission,  but  who  failed  to  avail  themselves  thereof  within  the  time  limited  by  the  constitu 
tion,  or  the  male  descendants  of  such  officers  of  the  army  or  navy  of  the  Revolution  as  may  have 
resigned  with  honor  or  left  the  service  with  reputation,  or  to  the  male  collateral  relatives  of  any 
officer  who  died  in  service  without  leaving  issue. 

II.  Resolved,  That  the  male   descendants  of  those  who   were    members  of  State  Societies 
which   have  been  dissolved  may  be  admitted  into  existing  Societies  upon  such  terms  as   those 
Societies  think  proper  to  prescribe. 

III.  Resolved,   That  the  foregoing  resolutions  be  proposed  to  the  several  State  Societies  and 
their  assent  be  requested  thereto,  and  upon  such  assent  being  given  by  each  of  the    remaining 
Societies,  the  Secretary-General  shall  issue  notice  thereof  to  each  Society,  and  thereupon  the  said 
resolutions  shall  become  operative,  and   each    State  Society  shall  be  at  liberty  to  act  upon   the 
power  given  thereby. 

Now,  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  assent  of  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  be  and  the  same 
is  hereby  given  to  the  first  and  second  of  the  said  resolutions. 

Resolved,  That  if  the  assent  of  each  of  the  other  remaining  Societies  be  given  to  the  said 
resolutions,  then,  upon  notice  being  issued  by  the  Secretary-General  as  contemplated  in  the  third 
of  the  said  resolutions,  the  said  first  and  second  resolutions  shall  becofne  and  be  deemed  opera 
tive  as  a  part  of  the  constitution  of  this  Society,  and  this  Society  shall  thereafter  be  at  liberty 
to  act  upon  the  power  given  thereby  in  such  manner  as  shall  hereafter  be  determined. 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  this  Society  forward  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  preamble  and 
resolutions,  duly  attested,  to  the  Secretary-General,  and  also  to  each  of  the  remaining  State 
Societies. 

The  following  resolution  was  also  adopted  at  the  same  meeting  : 

Resolved,  That  in  case  the  assent  of  each  of  the  remaining  State  Societies  be  given  to  the 
resolutions  respecting  the  succession  and  admission  of  members,  which  were  adopted  at  the  last 
meeting  of  the  General  Society  (in  May,  1854)  and  by  them  proposed  to  the  several  State 
Societies,  the  Standing  Committee  be  directed  to  report  to  the  Society,  at  its  next  meeting,  such 
rules  and  regulations  as  they  may  think  proper  to  recommend  for  the  admission  of  members 
under  the  power  given  by  the  said  resolutions. 

GENERAL  ORDER,  December  6th. 

The  President,  with  unfeigned  sorrow,  announces  to  the  Society  the  death  of  the  vener 
able  Captain  Robert  Burnet,  Jr.,  of  Little  Britain,  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  a  member  of  the 
Society,  who,  it  is  believed,  was  the  only  survivor  of  the  commissioned  officers  of  the  Army  of 
the  Revolution. 

He  died  at  his  residence  on  the  2gth  November.  He  was  born  22d  February,  1762,  and 
was  at  his  death  ninety-two  years  of  age.  Captain  Burnet  was  appointed  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Artillery  Corps  commanded  by  Colonel  Lamb,  when  nineteen  years  of  age.  He  was  esteemed  as 
a  brave  and  efficient  officer,  and  when  the  American  Army  marched  into  New  York  at  the  evacua- 


122  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

tion  of  the  city  by  the  British  troops  he  had  the  honor  of  commanding  the  American  guard 
which  relieved  the  British  rear  guard  stationed  in  the  Bowery. 

The  spirit  of  patriotism  which  animated  him  at  the  age  of  nineteen  appeared  to  burn  in 
his  bosom  when  over  ninety.  lie  was  invited  to  come  to  this  city  to  unite  with  the  Society  and 
the  public  authorities  to  celebrate  the  birthday  of  General  Washington  on  the  22d  February, 
1851,  (which  was  intended  to  be  celebrated  with  unusual  splendor  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
into  prominent  view  the  sentiments  of  that  illustrious  patriot  in  relation  to  the  preservation  of 
the  Union,  which  appeared  to  have  been  forgotten  or  disregarded  by  numbers  of  people  who 
boldly  advocate  its  dissolution)  and  his  opinion  was  asked  on  the  subject,  lie  stated  that  his 
age  and  infirmities  were  such  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  attend  the  celebration  ;  that  he 
was  always  in  favor  of  sustaining  the  Union,  and  was  opposed  to  that  spirit  of  discord  which 
tries  to  excite  one  portion  of  the  Union  against  another,  and  that  he  had  always  been  an  advocate 
for  the  Union,  a  firm  supporter  of  the  Constitution  in  all  its  compromises,  had  never  coun 
tenanced  by  his  vote  or  influence  any  of  the  fanaticisms  of  the  day,  by  whatever  name  they  were 
called — the  "  Free  Soil "  or  the  "higher  power"  party — who  denounced  the  Constitution  as  a 
gross  violation  of  the  laws  of  God  and  the  rights  of  nature  ;  and  he  enjoined  it  upon  the  members 
of  the  Cincinnati,  of  which  he  had  so  long  been  a  member,  to  support  the  Union  and  adhere  to 
the  Constitution  so  long  as  there  is  a  member  of  the  Society  in  existence. 

The  members  of  the  Society  will  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days  as  a 
testimony  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  their  venerable  associate. 

EDWARD  P.  DE  MARCELLIN  (Secretary).  ANTHONY  LAMB  (President). 


1855- 

At  the  Anniversary  meeting  Mr.  Hamilton  offered  the  following,  which  was 
adopted  : 

Resolved,   That   the   festive   celebrations  of  the    Society  be   hereafter  held  on  the  25th  of 
November*  (Evacuation  Day). 


1856. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  certain  Rules  and  Regulations  with  regard  to  the  qualifi 
cations  and  admissions  of  members  into  the  New  York  State  Society  were  pre 
sented  and  referred  to  the  Standing  Committee. f 


l857- 

On  the  4th  of  July,  the  Rules  and  Regulations,  with  regard  to  the  qualifi 
cations  and  admission  of  members  into  the  New  York  State  Society,  having 
been  recommended  by  the  Standing  Committee,  were  adopted  as  follows  : 


*  For  several  years  the  Society  continued  to  celebrate  this  occasion. 

1   See  the  action  of  General  Society  at  thejr  meeting,  at  Trenton,  in  May,  1856.     (See  ante,  page  55.) 


THE    SOCIETY   OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  123 

I.  No  person  shall  be  admitted  a  member  of  the  Society  (whatever  may  be  his  relation  to  an  original,  or  other 
member  of  the  Society,)  unless  he  be  of  good  moral  character  and  reputation,  and  be  (in  the  language  of  the 
original  constitution,)  by  the  Society  "judged  worthy  of  becoming  its  supporter  and  member." 

II.  None  but  males,  of  full  age,  shall  be  admitted  to  membership  ;  but  eligibility  to  membership  in  succession, 
devolving  upon  a  minor,   shall   be  deemed   vested  in  such  minor,  but  the  use  thereof  shall  remain  in  abeyance 
until  the  disability  cease  or  be  removed. 

III.  Lineal  succession  to  membership  shall  be  according  to  the  rules  of  inheritance  at  the  common  law,  unless 
otherwise  expressly  provided,  subject  in  all  cases  to  the  provisions  of  the  ist   Rule  above.     And  the  officer  of  the 
Army  of  the  Revolution,  who  was  an  Original  Member,  shall  be  deemed  and   taken  as  the  "  prof-ositus  "  from 
whom  succession  shall  be  derived. 

In  cases  where,  according  to  the  rules  of  the  common  law,  the  inheritance  would  descend  to  two  or  more  persons 
(jointly)  the  Society  may  admit  either  of  them,  as  the  one  entitled  in  lineal  succession  ;  or  may  allow  the  benefit  of 
the  right  of  admission  without  pay,  to  be  apportioned  among  all  or  several  of  the  said  persons. 

IV.  All  male  descendants  of  officers  of  the  Revolutionary  Army  or  Navy,  who  were  Original  Members  of  this 
State  Society,  and  also  all   male  descendants  of  all  persons  who  have  been,  or  now  are,  or  hereafter  may  become 
Members  of  this  State  Society,  shall  be  eligible  as  Members  thereof,  and  if  judged  worthy,  may  be  admitted  upon 
the   following  terms,   viz.  :  The  descendant  entitled  in  lineal  succession  (according  to  Rule  III.)  shall,  if  judged 
worthy,  be  admitted  without  payment,  in  right  of  the  payment  made  by  his  ancestor.     Every  other  descendant  who 
may  be  judged  worthy  of  admission,  shall  at  the  time  of  signing  the  roll,  and  before  taking  his  seat  as  a  Member, 
pay  into  the  Treasury  of  the  Society  a  sum  equal  to  one  month's  pay  of  the  Officer,  or  Original  Member  from  whom 
he  claims  descent,  or  in  whose  right  he  claims   membership,  according  to  the  rank  of  such  Officer  at  the  time  he 
signed  the  rolls  of  the  Society,  provided  that  such  sum  shall  in  no  case  be  less  than  seventy-five  dollars. 

V.  If  any  member  of  this  State  Society  have  died,  or  shall  hereafter  die,  leaving  no  descendant,  the  Society 
may,  upon  the  application  of  some  one  of  the  parties,  select  from  among  his  brothers  or  nephews  some  one  whom 
they  may  judge  worthy  to  be  a  member  of  the  Society  and  the  person  so  selected  shall  be  entitled  to  succession  in 
right  of  such  deceased  member;  but  no  collateral  relative  otliLr  than  a  brother  or  nephew,  shall  be  admitted  in 
succession  to  a  member  who  shall  have  died  leaving  no  descendants.     Provided  however,  that  the   descendants  of 
any  such  brother  or  nephew  who  shall  have  been  admitted,  may  succeed  to  him. 

VI.  The  male  descendants,  of  full  age,  of  the  Original  Members  of  any  of  the  State  Societies  which  have  been 
dissolved,  and  also  the  male  descendants  residing  in  the  State  of  New  York  of  the  Original  Members  of  any  State 
Society,  may  be  admitted  into  this  Society  (if  judged  worthy),  upon  the  payment  into  the  Treasury  of  a  sum  equal 
to  two  months'  pay  in  the  Continental  Army,  of  the  Original  Member  from  whom  they  claim  descent,  according  to 
the  rank  of  such  Original   Member,  at  the  time  he  signed  the  rolls  of  the  Society  of  which  he  was  a  member, 
provided  that  such  sum  shall  in  no  case  be  less  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

VII.  No  person  shall   be  admitted  a  member   of   this  Society  whose    father  or  paternal  grandfather  adhered 
to,  or  took  protection  from  the  Enemy  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 

VIII.  The  vote  of  the  Society  admitting  a  new  member,  shall  not  be  deemed  to  constitute  the  person  ballotted 
for,  a  Member,  until  he  shall  have  subscribed  the  roll  of  the  Society,  and  have  complied  with  the  terms  required  by 
any  rule  or  regulation,  by-law,  or  order  of  the  Society. 

IX.  All  money  paid  into  the  Treasury  by  persons  admitted,  in  pursuance  of  the  foregoing  rules  and  regulations, 
shall  be  considered  as  part  of  the  funds  or  principal  money  belonging  to  the  Society,  and  shall  be  invested  in  the 
name  of  the  Trustees,  as  provided  by  the  by-laws. 

X.  The  diploma  or  certificate  which   Members  are  entitled,  by  virtue  of  the  XIV.   By-law,   (adopted  in  May, 
1851),  to  receive  upon  their  admission,  shall  be  in  the  following  form  : 

STATE  OF  NEW- YORK. 
SOCIETY  OF  THE   CINCINNATI. 

BE  IT  KNOWN,   That  A.  B.,  the  lineal  successor  of  (or  a  descendant  of  C.  D.,)  who  was  a  — in  the 

Regiment  of  New  York  Infantry,  (setting  forth  the  rank  of  the  officer  as  subscribed  to  the  Rolls  of  the 

Society),  and  an  Original  Member  of  the —  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  is  (by  virtue  of 

a  resolution  of  the  New- York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  passed  on  the  —  —  day  of  —  —  185  )  a  Member  of 
the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  instituted  by  the  Officers  of  the  American  Army  of  the  Revolution  at  the  period  of  its 
dissolution  in  1783,  as  well  to  commemorate  the  great  event  which  gave  Independence  to  the  United  States  of 
America,  as  for  the  purpose  of  inculcating  the  duty  of  laying  down  in  peace,  arms  assumed  in  the  public  defence, 
and  of  uniting  in  acts  of  brotherly  affection  and  bonds  of  perpetual  friendship,  the  Members  constituting  the  same. 

IN  WITNESS  WHEREOF,  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  have  caused  these  presents  to  be  signed 
by  their  President  and  countersigned  by  their  Secretary  the —  — day  of —   — in  the  year  of  our 

Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and ,   and  of  the  independence  of  the  United    States  of 

A  merica  the 

PRESIDENT. 
SECRETARY. 

At  the  adoption  of  the  foregoing  Rules,  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  the  4th  of  the  said  Rules,  and  so  much  of  the  6th  as  may  contemplate  the  admission  of  more 
than  one  descendant  of  any  Original  Member  (to  represent  such  Original  Member  at  the  same  time),  shall  be  in 
force  for  the  period  of  three  years,  and  no  longer,  unless  continued  or  renewed  by  a  resolution  of  the  Society 
adopted  at  or  after  the  expiration  of  the  said  three  years.  But  the  expiration  of  the  said  Rules  shall  in  no  way 
affect  the  right  of  any  members  admitted  in  pursuance  of  the  said  Rules  during  their  continuance. 


124  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

1858. 

The  following  schedule,  taken  from  the  War  Department,  of  the  monthly 
pay  of  Officers  of  the  Revolution,  was  adopted  at  the  Anniversary  meeting  on 
the  5th  of  July,  as  a  criterion  for  the  Society's  use  : 

$166  to  $180.     Major-General. 

100  oo.  Secretary  to  the  General. 

125  oo.  Brigadiers  and  Adjutant-General. 

100  oo.  Commissary  Generals  and  Paymaster  General. 

100  oo.  Colonels  of  Artillery. 

93  75-  "        "   Cavalry. 

75  oo.  "        "  Infantry. 

60  oo.  Lieutenant-Colonels. 

90  oo.  Field  Commissary  of  Military  Stores. 

80  oo.  Quartermasters,  Deputy  Commissary  and  Chief  Engineer 

62  45.  Majors  of  Artillery. 

62  45.  "      "  Cavalry. 

50  oo.  "      "  Infantry. 

50  oo.  Captains  of  Artillery. 

50  oo.  "  Cavalry. 

40  oo.  "         "  Infantry. 

33  30.  "       and  Lieutenants  of  Artillery, 

i  26  60.  "  Infantry,  Ensigns  or  Cornets^ 

30  oo.  Regimental  Paymasters  and  Clothiers  (additional). 

75  oo.  Chaplains. 

59  oo.  Surgeons. 

46  oo.  Mate. 

102  oo.  Director  of  the  Hospital  Department. 

100  oo.  Deputy  Physician   " 

92  oo.  Apothecary  and  Purveyor  of  the  Hospital  Department. 

90  oo.  Surgeons. 

60  oo.  Captains  in  the  Navy. 
30  oo.  Lieutenants  "        " 


GENERAL  ORDER,  Albany,  March  6th. 

With  deep  sorrow  the  President  announces  the  death  of  Matthew  C.  Perry,  a  Post  Captain 
in  the  Navy,  and  an  honorary  member  of  the  Cincinnati. 

Without  enumerating  the  various  services  of  this  distinguished  man,  it  is  enough  to  say  that 
they  stand  conspicuous  in  the  naval  history  of  our  country. 

Commodore  Perry  always  sustained  the  character  of  an  honorable  and  upright  man.  lie  was 
a  useful  citizen  and  an  ornament  to  his  profession.  His  death  will  be  mourned  by  all  who  enjoyed 
his  personal  acquaintance,  regretted  by  his  professional  associates,  and  acknowledged  by  all,  as  a 
severe  loss  to  the  country. 

In  testimony  of  our  respect  for  his  memory,  the  insignia  will  be  in  mourning  for  thirty  days. 
ALEXANDER  B.  THOMPSON  (Secretary).  RICHARD  VARICK  DE  WITT  (Acting  President). 


GENERAL  ORDER,  New  York,  June  3oth. 

The  public  ceremonies  on  the  occasion  of  the  removal  of  the  remains  of  ex-President  Monroe 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  125 

to  Virginia,  will  take  place  on  Friday,  July  2d,  under  the  direction  of  the  Special  Committee  of 
the  Common  Council. 

Mr.  Monroe  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia  State  Society.  He  joined  the  Army  of  the  Revolu 
tion  in  17/6,  as  a  vohmteer,  and  brought  with  him  from  Virginia  a  company  of  artillery,  which  he 
raised  and  commanded.  At  the  battle  of  Trenton  Captain,  afterwards  Colonel  Monroe,  greatly 
distinguished  himself.  He  received  a  severe  wound  through  the  breast,  by  which  he  was  disabled 
for  nearly  a  year.  After  his  recovery  he  -was  appointed  Aide  de  Camp  to  Major-General  Lord 
Stirling,  and  continued  on  his  staff  for  some  time.  He  was  subsequently  elected  a  member  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  and  was  a  member  in  1783,  when  General  Washington  resigned  his  com 
mission  to  that  body. 

After  the  war  Colonel  Monroe  was  appointed  Minister  to  France,  and  subsequently  Secretary 
of  State  and  Secretary  of  War.  He  was  elected  President  of  the  United  States,  4th  March,  1817, 
and  held  that  high  office  for  two  terms. 

Mr.  Monroe  died  in  this  city  on  the  4th  July,  1831. 

Members  of  the  Cincinnati  will  take  the  place  which  may  be  assigned  them  at  the  obsequies, 
by  the  Special  Committee  of  the  Common  Council. 

The  insignia  will  be  in  mourning  until  the  5th  of  July. 
ALEX.  B.  THOMPSON  (Secretary).  RICHARD  VARICK  DE  WITT  (Acting President). 


At  the  special  meeting  of  the  Society  held  on  Evacuation  Day  of  this  year, 
at  the  Everett  House,  the  Secretary  presented  a  communication  from  Mr. 
Thomas  L.  Servoss,  enclosing  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Baron  Steuben,  Presi 
dent  of  the  N.  Y.  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  by  John  Pintard,  Sagamore 
of  the  St.  Tammany  Society  or  Columbian  Order,  as  follows  : 

SIR  :  In  behalf  of  the  Society  of  St.  Tammany  or  the  Columbian  Order,  I  have  the  honor  to 
present  you  with  a  Calamut  of  peace,  as  a  pledge  of  that  friendship  which  they  wish  to  cultivate 
with  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati. 

Established  upon  national  principles,  the  Columbian  Order  considers  your  Society  as  brothers, 
with  whom  they  desire  to  promote  a  mutual  interchange  of  civilities.  As  the  junior  establishment, 
it  accordingly  makes  the  first  advances,  and  it  rests  with  you  to  determine  how  far  it  will  be  agree 
able  to  cultivate  a  friendly  intercourse  between  the  two  Societies. 

That  every  true  son  of  America  may  be  connected  by  one  bright  chain  of  friendship,  and  ever 
smoke  the  Calumut  of  peace  in  the  sunshine  of  prosperity,  and  under  the  protection  of  the  Great 
Spirit  of  freedom,  is  the  earnest  prayer  of  our  Society,  in  whose  behalf  I  have  the  honor  to  sub 
scribe  myself  your  friend  and  well-wisher, 

JOHN  PINTARD  (Sagamore). 

New  York,  I3th  May,  1790. 

Whereupon,  on  motion,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Society  be  presented  to  Mr.  Servoss,  that  Mr.  Pintard's 
letter  be  placed  on  the  archives,  and  that  the  Acting  President  be  requested  to  write  Mr.  Servoss 
in  acknowledgment  of  the  donation. 


1861. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Standing  Committee  on  May  2jst,  on  motion  of  Mr. 
Hoffman,  the  following  resolutions  were  adopted,  and  ordered  to  be  entered 
upon  the  book  of  minutes  of  the  Society: 


126  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Whereas,  Our  fathers  founded  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  to  the  intent  that  their  children 
should  always  preserve  that  love  of  country  and  loyalty  to  its  government  which  they  held  to  be 
the  first  duty  of  patriots  and  of  soldiers  ;  and 

Whereas,  They  then  declared  it  to  be  their  unalterable  determination  to  promote  and  cherish 
between  the  respective  States  that  union  and  national  honor,  so  essentially  necessary  to  their  hap 
piness  and  to  the  future  dignity  of  the  American  empire  ;  and 

Whereas,  The  Government  they  founded  on  these  eternal  principles  is  now  threatened  by 
those  who  resist  its  authority  and  defy  its  laws  ;  therefore 

Resolved,  That,  as  members  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  it  is  our  sabred  duty  to  guard 
with  vigilance  the  inheritance  we  have  received  from  our  fathers,  and  to  transmit  it  to  our  children 
unimpaired  and  inviolate. 

Resolved,  That  we  do  utterly  deny  the  right  of  secession,  and  hold  that  no  State  can  right 
fully  withdraw  from  that  union  of  which  it  forms  a  part. 

Resolved,  That  the  first  duty  of  a  soldier  is  to  the  Government  he  has  sworn  to  support,  and 
that  we  do  therefore  utterly  condemn  the  conduct  of  those  officers  who  have  violated  their  oaths, 
and  deserted  their  flag,  and  hold  them  to  be  unworthy  successors  to  the  heroes  of  the  Revo 
lution. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  our  duty,  as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  to  support  its  Government,  to 
enforce  its  authority,  to  uphold  its  laws,  and  to  this  sacred  duty  we,  in  the  spirit  of  our  fathers, 
and  in  their  immortal  words,  do  hereby  pledge  our  lives  and  fortunes  and  our  sacred  honor. 


It  was  also  on  motion 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  consider  and  report  whether,  in  their  opinion,  it 
is  desirable  that  the  Society  should  raise  a  regiment  of  infantry,  for  the  defence  of  the  Govern 
ment,  and  if  they  shall  be  of  opinion  that  it  is  so  desirable,  to  prepare  and  report  to  the  Standing 
Committee  a  plan  for  organizing  such  regiment . 

It  was  ordered  that  the  committee  consist  of  the  president  (Mr.  Fish)  and  two  members  of 
the  Standing  Committee  (Mr  Wickham  Hoffman  and  Mr.  Earl  Douglas). 


On  the  following  4th  July  the  Committee,  to  whom  it  was  referred  to  con 
sider  the  propriety  of  raising  a  regiment  of  infantry,  to  be  offered  to  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  for  the  defence  of  the  Government,  beg  leave  to 

Report,  That  they  have  not  considered  it  desirable  to  take  any  active  steps  in  the  matter, 
before  the  meeting  of  the  General  Society. 

The  Committee  was  thereupon  discharged. 


1862. 

At  the  Anniversary  meeting  the  following  was  adopted: 

Whereas,  A  meeting  of  the  General  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  is  appointed  to  be  held  in  this 
city  on  the  second  Wednesday  in  May,  1863,  therefore 

Resolved,  That  an  entertainment  be  provided  by  this  Society  during  their  sitting,  and  that  a 
Committee  of  three  members  be  appointed  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements,  and  to  transmit 
the  invitation,  in  the  name  of  this  Society,  to  the  officers  and  delegates  of  the  General  Society,  and 
also  to  provide  a  room  for  their  meeting,  and  that  the  treasurer  pay  the  expenses  of  the  same,  on 
the  certificate  of  the  approval  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  namely,  Dr.  Torrey,  Mr.  Pop- 
ham  and  Mr.  Earl  Douglas. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  127 


1865. 


GENERAL  ORDER,  April  22d. 


The  members  of  the  Society  are  requested  to  join  in  the  funeral  procession  of  the  late 
President  of  the  United  States.  The  sons  of  those  who  perilled  their  lives  to  found  a  Nation, 
mourn  the  loss  of  one  who  perished  in  the  firm  maintainance  of  that  Nation's  existence.  But 
while  they  mourn  the  martyr,  they  had  the  assurance  that  a  Nation's  name  and  a  Nation's 
honor,  strike  deep  their  roots  in  the  soil  moistened  by  the  martyr's  blood. 

The  blood  of  Lincoln  is  shed,  in  the  completion  of  the  work  for  which  the  blood  of  Wash 
ington  was  freely  risked. 

The  members  of  the  Society  will  assemble  on  Tuesday  next  at  such  time  and  place,  and  will 
take  such  position  in  the  line  of  the  procession,  as  shall  be  designated  by  the  authorities  in 
charge  of  the  arrangements.  They  are  requested  to  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for 
thirty  days,  and  also  to  wear,  in  the  procession,  their  order  properly  draped. 

MARINUS  WILLETT  (Secretary).  HAMILTON  FISH  (President). 


At  the  Anniversary  meeting  the  following  was 

Resolved,  That  this  Society  avail  itself  of  the  first  opportunity  since  the  assassination  of  the 
late  President  of  the  United  States,  to  record  its  profound  abhorrence  of  the  foul  crime  that 
deprived  the  Nation  of  its  chosen  head,  and  to  perpetuate  its  appreciation  of  the  noble  virtutes, 
the  unflinching  honesty,  the  stern  simplicity,  the  devoted  adherence  to  principle,  and  the  com 
prehensive  philanthropy  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  martyr  President  of  the  United  States. 

Resolved,  That  we  recognize  assassination  and  individual  murder  as  following  naturally  and 
logically  in  the  train  of  a  causeless  and  unprincipled  revolt  against  a  benign,  gentle,  and  self- 
imposed,  Government — a  revolt  instigated  by  lust,  jealousy,  and  sectional  prejudice — a  revolt 
aiming  at  the  enslavement  and  oppression  of  a  race,  and  the  overthrow  of  a  Constitutional 
Government— a  revolt  directed  and  led  on  by  the  unholy  ambition  of  unprincipled  leaders,  mis 
guiding  a  confiding  and  generous  constituency — a  revolt  marked  in  its  conduct  by  a  cruelty  and 
ferocity,  unknown  to  Christian  and  civilized  nations,  by  a  treatment  of  prisoners  taken  in  war, 
revolting  to  every  feeling  and  sense  of  humanity,  and  which  will  forever  associate  the  names  of 
Andersonville,  Belle  Isle,  the  Libby  Prison,  and  the  inhuman  authors  and  permitters  of  the 
enormities  there  committed,  with  the  most  atrocious  cruelties,  that  disgrace  the  darkest  pages 
of  history. 

Resolved,  That  holding  treason  to  be  the  height  of  crime,  we  believe  that  justice  to  the 
living  and  to  the  dead — to  the  vindication  of  right — to  the  stability  of  government — and  to  the 
future  peace  of  the  nation  requires  stern  and  exemplary  punishment  to  be  awarded  to  the  prime 
instigators  and  leaders  of  the  late  rebellion,  while  we  hail  with  delight,  the  far-reaching  amnesty 
which  the  wise  councils  of  the  present  enlightened  head  of  the  nation,  has  proclaimed  to  those 
who  had  been  drawn  into  the  schemes,  of  'designing  traitors  and  ambitious  and  unprincipled 
leaders. 

Resolved,  That  after  four  years  of  strife,  we  hail  with  delight  the  return  of  peace,  the  con 
firmed  integrity  of  the  Union,  the  preservation  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  train  of  blessings 
and  privileges  which  it  secures — that  forgetting  the  animosities  of  the  late  conflict,  we  would 
remember  only  the  great  lessons  which  its  history  teaches  —We  turn  with  joy  and  pride  to  the 
cherished  recollections  of  the  years  that  preceded  it — and  open  our  arms  to  embrace  with  sincere 
affection,  brothers  returning  to  the  remembrance  of  a  common  parentage,  and  to  the  recognition 
of  the  laws,  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  secured  to  them  and  to  us  by  the  valor,  and  cemented 
by  the  blood  of  a  common  ancestry. 

Resolved,  That  we  tender  to  each  and  every  of  the  surviving  State  Societies  of  the  Cincin 
nati,  our  cordial  congratulations,  on  the  day  designated  by  its  founders  for  the  common  anniver- 


128  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

sary,  and  we  desire  to  express  to  each  of  them,  the  assurances  of  friendship,  affection,  and 
brotherly  love,  and  to  record  anew,  our  subscription  to  the  principles,  which  their  fathers  and 
ours,  declared  to  be  immutable  and  to  form  the  basis  of  our  Society.  We  therefore  declare,  that  we 
will  cherish  an  incessant  attention,  to  preserve  inviolate  those  exalted  rights  and  liberties  of  human 
nature,  for  which  our  fathers  fought  and  bled,  and  without  which  the  high  rank  of  a  rational 
being  is  a  curse  instead  of  a  blessing,  and  an  unalterable  determination  to  promote  and  cherish 
between  the  respective  States,  that  union  and  national  honor,  so  essentially  necessary,  to  their 
happiness  and  to  the  dignity  of  the  American  Empire. 

GENERAL  ORDER,  February  i4th. 

The  President  announces  with  deep  regret  to  the  Society,  the  death  of  their  venerable  and 
beloved  associate  Philip  Schuyler  at  his  residence  in  Pelham,  Westchester  County,  on  Sunday 
the  1 2th  inst.,  in  the  seventy-seventh  year  of  his  age.  Mr.  Schuyler  entered  the  Society  in 
July  1811,  in  right  of  his  grandfather,  the  illustrious  Major  General  Schuyler  of  the  Army  of 
the  Revolution.  He  filled  various  positions,  both  under  the  State  and  National  Government, 
and  in  every  relation  of  life  exhibited  the  same  earnest,  just,  sincere  and  generous  character  ; 
warm  in  his  friendships  and  affectionate  in  a  remarkable  degree  in  his  domestic  relations,  he  had 
endeared  to  himself  a  large  number  of  devoted  friends,  who  will  long  cherish  the  memory  of  his 
name  and  his  virtues. 

The  members  of  the  Society  are  requested  to  attend  his  funeral,  wearing  the  usual  ba  dge  of 
mourning,  on  Wednesday  the  I5th  inst.,  at  one  o'clock  p.  M.,  at  Christ  Church,  Pelham,  by 
order  of 

MARINUS  WILLETT  (Secretary).  HAMILTON  FISH  (President). 


1867. 

Mr.  William  Irving  Graham,  the  Secretary,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Standing 
Committee,  on  November  25th,  read  a  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Maryland 
State  Society,  announcing  that  that  Society  had  adopted  a  Rule  that  any  "exist 
ing  members  had  the  right  to  name  one  gentleman  of  the  blood  of  an  original 
member,  and  that  said  nominee,  if  elected,  shall  enjoy  all  the  rights  of  the  Insti 
tution,  except  voting  on  any  amendment  to  the  Constitution,"  and  also  stating 
that  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Maryland  Society  will  hereafter  be  held  on  the 
22d  day  of  February. 


GENERAL  ORDER,  February  i5th. 

The  Society  will  meet  at  Delmonico's,  i^th  Street  and  5th  Avenue,  on  Wednesday  Evening, 
February  22d,  at  8  o'clock,  for  the  purpose  of  celebrating  the  i3Qth  Anniversary  of  Washington's 
Birthday.  An  appropriate  address  will  be  delivered  by  the  Chaplain,  the  Rev.  Mancius  S. 
Hutton,  D.D. 

WM.  IRVING  GRAHAM  (Secretary).  HAMILTON  FISH  (President). 

At  the  Anniversary  meeting  of  this  year  it  was 

Resolved,  That  a  Committee  be  appointed  with  power  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  Society  on  the 
25th  of  November,  and  on  the  22d  day  of  February,  and  to  provide  a  suitable  collation,  the  same 
to  be  continued,  annually,  during  the  pleasure  of  the  Society. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  139 

1873. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Standing  Committee,  May  22,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  Institution  of  this  Society,  together  with  abstracts  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  General  Society  and  of  the  New  York  State  Society  down  to  the  present  time,  also  a  full  list  of 
the  members  of  this  Society,  together  with  the  revised  By- Laws,  be  printed  to  the  number  of 
five  hundred  copies,  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary. 

At  the  Anniversary  meeting  it  was 

Resolved,  That  John  Cochrane,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Jr.,  Pieire  Van  Cortlandt,  John 
Schuyler,  and  the  Secretary,  Marinus  \VilIett,  be  appointed  a  Committee  on  the  Centennial  Cele 
bration  to  be  held  at  Philadelphia  in  1876. 


At  the  Anniversary  meeting  of  this  year  the  following  gentlemen  were 
appointed  a  Committee  of  Arrangements,  for  the  triennial  meeting*-  of  the  Gen 
eral  Society,  to  be  held  in  New  York  i  2th  May,  1875,  namely,  John  W.  Greaton, 
Alexander  Hamilton,  Jr.,  and  General  John  Cochrane. 


1875. 

At  the  Anniversary  meeting,  held  on  the  5th  of  July,  on  motion  of  Mr. 
Walton  White  Evans,  the  following  was  adopted  : 

Resolved,  That  John  Schuyler,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Jr.,  William  II.  Crosby,  and  the  Secre 
tary,  Marinus  Willett,  be  a  Committee  to  whom  all  applications  for  membership  be  referred,  who 
shall  report  to  the  Standing  Committee  on  the  same  ;  and  further 

Resolved,  That  applications  now  in  the  hands  of  the  several  Committees  and  not  acted  on,  be 
referred  to  the  said  Committee. 


The  securities  of  the  Society  were  ordered  at  this  meeting  to  be  assigned  and 
stand  in  the  names  of  the  following  Trustees,  viz.:  Hamilton  Fish,  William  S. 
Popham,  and  William  H.  Crosby,  their  survivors,  successors,  or  assigns. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Standing  Committee  on  3d  of  November,  General 
Cochrane  and  Mr.  Schuyler  were  appointed  a  Committee  of  Arrangements  for 
the  annual  dinner. 


*  The  meetings,  collations,  and  banquet  were  held  at  Delmonico's,  in  i4th  Street,  carriages  were  provided 
during  the  afternoons  to  convey  the  members  to  the  different  points  of  interest  on  Manhattan  Island.  Mr.  Hamil 
ton  also  entertained  them  with  a  dinner  at  the  Union  Club  House. 


130  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


1876. 


At  the  Anniversary  meeting  of  this  year  Mr.  Alexander  H.  Hammond  pre 
sented  the  Society  with  a  very  finely  executed  oil  painting  of  his  father,  Abijah 
Hammond,  a  Lieutenant  in  the  zd  Artillery,  in  full  uniform,  wearing  the  Order 
of  the  Cincinnati  on  his  left  breast. 


General  Cochrane  submitted  the  report  of  the  Centennial  Committee,  which 
was  as  follows  : 

"  That,  in  compliance  with  the  duties  devolved  upon  them  by  their  appointment,  they  in 
due  time  opened  a  correspondence  with  each  of  the  six  existing  State  Societies  upon  the  subject 
of  the  time,  place  and  manner  of  their  celebrating  the  Centennial  Year  of  the  Republic  ;  that 
each  of  the  State  Societies  having  consented  to  be  governed  by  whatever  their  delegates  at  their 
meeting  in  Philadelphia — on  the  first  of  June,  1876 — should  decide,  it  was  then  and  there  deter 
mined  that  there  should  be  a  social  reunion  of  an  informal  character  of  the  several  State  Societies 
in  Philadelphia,  on  the  igth  of  October,  1876,  the  anniversary  of  the  surrender,  in  1781.  of 
Cornwallis  to  the  united  armies  of  France  and  the  United  States  of  America." 

Your  Committee  further  report  that  the  reunion  of  the  several  State  Societies  took  place  in 
accordance  with  the  recommendation  of  their  delegates  at  Philadelphia  on  the  iSth  and  igth  of 
October,  1876,  and  that  all  the  State  Societies,  with  the  exception  of  South  Carolina,  were  repre 
sented  on  the  occasion  and  participated  therein — also  that  at  an  informal  meeting  held  on  that 
occasion  the  following  was  adopted— 

Whereas,  We,  the  descendants  of  officers  of  the  Revolutionary  Army,  have  met  in  this  city 
of  Philadelphia,  on  the  occasion  of  the  Centennial  Anniversary  of  the  nation  ;  and, 

Whereas,  It  is  right  and  proper  that  we  should  give  expression  to  our  feelings,  on  this  deeply 
interesting  occasion  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  we  hail  with  feelings  of  unmingled  satisfaction  the  evidences  we  see  around 
us  of  the  wonderful  progress  our  country  has  made  in  the  great  march  of  development  and 
improvement. 

Resolved,  That  the  great  success  which  has  attended  the  Centennial  Exposition  of  the 
country,  to  which  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  have  contributed  of  their  material  resources,  should 
be  a  source  of  great  pride  to  all  the  citizens  of  the  Republic,  and  that  we,  in  common  with  them, 
rejoice  in  the  evidence  thus  afforded  of  the  high  position  our  country  has  assumed  amongst  the 
nations  of  the  world. 

Resolved,  That  we  will  never  cease  to  cherish  with  feelings  of  veneration  and  respect  the 
memory  of  the  great  men  who  founded  this  Society,  and  who,  by  their  efforts  and  sacrifices  in  the 
cause  of  freedom,  started  our  country  on  the  career  which  has  produced  such  grand  results. 

Resolved,  That  we  will  give  our  best  efforts  to  the  perpetuation  of  this  Society,  forming  as 
it  does  a  link  between  the  present  and  the  past,  and  calculated  as  it  is  to  foster  a  spirit  of  true 
patriotism  and  love  of  country,  and  to  promote  feelings  of  veneration  for  the  great  men  and  the 
great  deeds  of  the  past. 

Resolved,  That  we  congratulate  the  managers  and  officers  of  the  Centennial  Exposition  on 
the  very  capable  manner  in  which  they  have  conducted  its  affairs,  aitfl  on  the  great  success  which 
has  attended  their  efforts. 

The  members  were,  upon  invitation  from  General  Hawley,  the  President  of 
the  Exposition,  received  at  the  entrance  on  the  ipth  of  October,  and  marched 
in  procession  into  the  grounds  and  up  to  the  Judges'  Hall,  where  the  Expo 
sition  Committee  received  them,  and,  after  a  few  happy  words  of  welcome, 
conducted  them  to  the  various  places  of  interest.  In  the  evening  the  members 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


were  entertained  with  a  very  elaborate  and  brilliant  banquet  at  the  Reform 
Club-House,  in  Chestnut  Street,  given  by  the  Hon.  George  W.  Harris,  Secretary 
General  and  President  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Society. 


1877. 

The  Committee  charged  with  the  duty  of  ascertaining  and  verifying  the 
names  of  \\\^  original  members  of  the  New  York  State  Society,  reported  on  the 
4th  of  July  that  they  had  succeeded  in  finding  the  original  Roll  of  the  New 
York  State  Society,  which  had  been  lost  or  missing  from  the  archives  since  the 
year  1850.  It  was  discovered  in  an  old  trunk  of  papers  in  Illinois. in  the 
possession  of  a  married  daughter  of  a  former  Secretary. 


1878. 

An  application  for  membership  having  been  presented  in  1875  to  the  Society 
by  Dr.  T.  Mat  lack  Cheeseman,  M.  I).,  asking  the  right  of  admission  from  his 
grandfather's  brother,  who  was  killed  with  Montgomery  in  Canada,  the  Com 
mittee  reported  that  under  the  institution  the  .right  of  representation  in  the 
Society  was  only  extended  to  the  "offspring  of  those  who  died  in  the  service,'" 
and  as  Dr.  Cheeseman  was  not  such  offspring,  his  application  could  not  be 
entertained.  Upon  investigation  it  appeared  Dr.  Cheeseman  subsequently 
made  application  to  be  admitted  in  the  NJW  Jersey  State  Society,  where  he 
was,  on  the  following  4th  of  July,  admitted.  The  New  York  State  Society 
then  appealed  to  the  General  Society,  which  met  in  May,  1878,  at  Philadelphia, 
for  a  decision  whether  the  action  of  the  New  Jersey  State  Society  should  be 
sustained.  The  matter  was  referred  by  them  to  the  Committee  on  By- Laws  for 
investigation.  (This  Committee  has  not  as  yet  made  their  report.) 


1879. 

At  the  Standing  Committee  meeting  held  on  the  gth  of  May,  General  John 
Cochrane  was  added  to  the  Committee  on  applications  in  the  place  of  the 
Secretary,  Mr.  Willett,  who  had  resigned. 

The  following  preamble  and  resolution  was  adopted  at  the  Annual  Meeting: 

Whereas,  Certain   portions    of    the    "  Rules   and   Regulations,"  adopted  4th  July,  1857,  are 

already  incorporated  in  the  Institution  and  By-Laws  of  the  Society  ;  and 

Whereas,  Other  portions  of  the  same  have  expired  by  limitation  ;  therefore  be  it 
Resolved,  That  such  of  these  "  Rules  and  Regulations"  consistent  with  the  Institution  and 

By-Laws  of  the  Society  be  incorporated  in  the  By-Laws,  and  all  the  remaining  be  rescinded. 


132  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

l880. 

BY-LAWS 

OF    THE 

NEW  YORK  STATE  SOCIETY  OF  THE  CINCINNATI. 


Compiled  and  Corrected  in  accordance  ivith  Resolution  of  ^th  July,  1879.     Recommended  by  Stand 
ing  Committee  for  Adoption  Dec.  19,  1879.     Adopted  by  Society,  Jiily  5,  1880. 


I.  The  officers   of  the  Society  shall  consist  of   a   President,  Vice-President, 
Secretary,  Treasurer  and  Assistant  Treasurer,  each  of  whom  shall  in  virtue  of 
his  office  be  a  member  of  the  Standing  Committee. 

II.  The  Society  shall  hold  an  Annual  Meeting  in  the  City  of  New  York,  on 
the  Fourth  of  July  in  each  year,  unless  that  day  fall   on  Sunday,  in  which  case 
the  Annual  Meeting  shall  be  held  on  the  following  day.     Extraordinary  meet 
ings  may  be  called  by  the  President  or,  in  case  of  his  death,  absence  from  the 
State,  or  inability  to  act,  by  the  Vice-President.     Public  notice  of  all  meetings 
of  the  Society  shall  be  given  in  at  least  two  daily  newspapers  published  in  the 
City   of    New    York,   by    advertisement,   for   two   days  preceding  the   day  of 
meeting. 

III.  The  President  shall  preside  at  all  meetings  of  the  Society  if  he  be  pres 
ent,  but  if  absent  the  Vice-President  shall  preside  ;  if  both  be  absent  the  meet 
ing  may  appoint  a  Chairman  pro  tern. 

IV.  The  presence   of   at  least  fifteen  members  shall  be   necessary  for  the 
transaction  of  any  business  which  may  authorize  or  involve  the  expenditure  of 
money,  or  the  admission   of  new  members,  or  the   election  of  Honorary  Mem 
bers.     Nine  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  all   other   purposes,  but  no  business 
shall  be  transacted  at  an  extraordinary  meeting  which  shall  authorize  or  lead  to 
the  expenditure  of   money,  nor  shall   any  appropriation   of  money  be  made  at 
such  meeting. 

V.  The  officers  of  the  Society  shall  be  elected  at  the  Annual  Meeting  in  each 
year  ;  at  which  time  there  shall  also  be   elected  a  committee  of  eight  members 
who,  together  with   the   officers  of  the   Society,  shall   constitute  the   Standing 
Committee.     There  shall   also  be   elected,  at  the  same  time,  five  delegates,  to 
represent  the  Society  in  any  meeting  of  the  General  Sodety  which  may  be  held 
during  the  ensuing  year. 

VI.  The  election  of  the  officers  of  the  Society,  including  the  members  of  the 
Standing  Committee  and  delegates  to  the  General  Society,  shall  be  decided  by 
ballot,  and  the  persons  having  the   largest  number  of  votes  cast  for  the  respec 
tive  places  shall  be  elected.     The  vote   upon  the  admission  of  new  members, 
and  the  election  of   Honorary   Members,  shall   also   in   all   cases   be  taken  by 
ballot ;  and   the  affirmative  votes  of  two-thirds   of  the  members  present  and 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  133 

voting  shall  be  necessary  for  the   admission  of  a   new  member,  and  of  three- 
fourths  of  those  present  and  voting  for  the  election  of  an  Honorary  Member. 

VII.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Standing  Committee  to  take  care  of  the 
general  concerns  of  the  Society,  as  well  as  of  all  matters  specially  committed  to 
them  by  the  Society.     They  shall  annually  appoint  a  sub-committee  of  three  of 
their  own  number  to  examine  the  Treasurer's  accounts  and  to  make  report 
thereon  to  the  Society  at   its  Annual  Meeting.     They  shall   examine  and  audit 
all  bills  and  claims  against  the  Society,  and  shall  authorize  the  payment  of  what 
they  shall  deem  just  demands.     They  shall,  from  the  funds  of  the  Society, 
afford  such  relief  to  the  members,  or  the  families  of  deceased  members,  who  may 
in  their  judgment  be  proper  objects  for  the  beneficence  of  the  Society,  in  such 
sums  and  at  such  times  as  they  shall  think  proper.     They  shall  grant  warrants 
upon   the  Treasurer  for  all  claims  which  they  shall  audit  and  pass  and  for  all 
payments  which  they  shall  authorize  ;  but  the  aggregate  of  the  expenditures 
authorized  by  the  Committee  to  be  paid,  including  all  sums  distributed  in  aid 
of  members  or  their  families,  in  any  one  year,  shall  not  exceed  the  annual 
income  for  the  year  arising  from  the  productive  permanent  funds  of  the  Society. 
The  Committee  shall  have  power,  from  time  to  time,  with  the  concurrence  of 
the   Trustees  referred  to   in  the  eleventh  of  these  By-Laws,  or  a  majority  of 
them,  or  of  the  survivors  or  survivor  of  them,  from  time  to  time,  to  call  in  any 
of  the  moneys  belonging  to  the  Society,  and  to  invest  the  same,  and  to  change 
the   investments  of  the   Society's  funds.     They  shall  have  power  to  appoint 
proper  persons  to  fill  any  offices  or  places  which  shall  become  vacant  by  death, 
resignation  or  otherwise,  except  as  hereinafter  provided  in  By-Law  XI.  ;  such 
appointments  to  continue  until  the  place  be  filled  by  an  election  by  the  Society 
at  an  Annual  Meeting.     They  shall  keep  a  record  of  their  proceedings,  which 
shall  be  subject  to  the  inspection  of  any  member  of  the  Society  at  reasonable 
times,  and  which  shall  be  laid  before  the  Society  and  be  read  at  the  Annual 
Meetings. 

VIII.  Five  members  of  the  Standing  Committee  shall  be  a  quorum  for  the 
transaction  of  ordinary  business,  but  no  payment  of  money  shall  be  authorized 
unless  seven  members  be  present. 

IX.  Every  person  desirous  of  becoming  a  member  of  the  Society  shall  make 
application,  in  writing,  to  the  Standing  Committee,  setting  forth  distinctly  and 
clearly  his  claim  to  be  admitted.     The  Committee  shall  advise  thereon,  and  may 
require  any  proof  which  they  may  deem  proper  in  support  of  such  claim,  or  any 
testimonial  with  respect  to  the  character  and  standing  of  the  applicant,  and  they 
shall  report,  in  writing,  the  facts  of  the  case  together  with  their  opinion  to  the 
Society.     No  person  shall  be  admitted  as  a  member  unless  he  shall  be  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  nor  unless  his  claim  and  application  for  admission  shall  have 
been  before  the  Standing  Committee  prior  to  the  day  of  the  meeting  on  which 
he  may  be  voted  for  as  a  member. 

Section  i.  No  person  shall  be  admitted  a  member  of  the  Society  (whatever 
may  be  his  relation  to  an  original  or  other  member  of  the  Society)  unless  he  be 
of  good  moral  character  and  reputation,  and  be  (in  the  language  of  the  original 
institution)  ''judged  worthy  of  becoming  its  supporter  and  member." 

Section  2.   Eligibility  to  membership  in  succession,  devolving  upon  a  minor, 


134  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

shall  be  deemed  vested  in  such  minor,  but  the  use  thereof  shall  remain  in  abey 
ance  until  the  disability  cease  or  be  removed. 

Section  3.  Lineal  succession  to  membership  shall  be  according  to  the  rules 
of  inheritance  at  the  common  law,  unless  otherwise  expressly  provided,  subject 
in  all  cases  to  the  provisions  of  the  Institution.  And  the  Officer  of  the  Army 
or  Navy  of  the  Revolution,  who  was  an  Original  Member,  shall  be  deemed  and 
taken  as  the  " propositus  "  from  whom  succession  shall  be  derived. 

Section  4.  If  any  member  of  this  State  Society  have  died,  or  shall  hereafter 
die,  leaving  no  descendant  (the  eldest  male  line  having  become  otherwise 
extinct),  the  Society  may,  upon  the  application  of  some  one  of  the  parties,  select 
from  among  his  brothers  or  nephews  some  one  whom  they  may  judge  worthy  to 
be  a  member  of  the  Society,  and  the  person  so  selected  shall  be  entitled  to  the 
succession  of  such  deceased  member  ;  provided,  however,  that  no  collateral 
relative  other  than  a  brother  or  nephew,  shall  be  admitted  in  succession  to  such 
member,  and  that  the  descendants  of  any  such  brother  or  nephew  who  shall 
have  been  so  admitted,  may  succeed  to  him. 

Section  5.  The  eldest  male  descendant,  of  full  age,  of  any  Original  Member 
of  any  of  the  State  Societies  which  have  been  dissolved,  and  also  the  eldest  male 
descendant,  if  residing  in  the  State  of  New  York,  of  any  Original  Member  of 
any  State  Society,  may  be  admitted  into  this  Society  (if  judged  worthy)  upon 
the  payment  into  the  Treasury  of  a  sum  equal  to  one  month's  pay  in  the  Con 
tinental  Service,  of  the  Original  Member  from  whom  the  applicant  claims 
descent,  according  to  the  rank  of  such  Original  Member,  at  the  time  he  signed 
the  roll  of  the  Society  of  which  he  was  a  member,  together  with  legal  interest 
thereon  computed  from  the  Society's  organization  to  the  time  of  such  admis 
sion,  provided  that  such  sum  shall  in  no  case  be  less  than  five  hundred  dollars, 
unless  by  special  order  of  this  Society. 

Section  6.  No  person  shall  be  admitted  a  member  of  this  Society  whose 
ancestor  adhered  to,  or  took  protection  from  the  Enemy  during  the  war  of 
the  Revolution. 

X.  No  person  shall  be  admitted  a  member  of  the  Society,  and  no  Honorary 
Member  shall  be  elected,  except  at  an  Annual  Meeting,  and  no  person  shall  be 
elected  an  Honorary  Member  without  having  been  openly  proposed  as  such  at 
the  immediately  preceding  Annual  Meeting,   and   an  entry  of  the  fact  being 
made  upon  the  minutes. 

XI.  All   investments    of  the   funds   of  the  Society  shall  continue  to  be,  as 
heretofore,  in  the  names  of  three   Trustees,  and  of  the  survivors  of  them,  as 
joint  tenants.     Whenever  a  vacancy  shall   occur  in  the  office  of  either  of  such 
Trustees,  the  place  shall   be  filled  by  the  Society  at  its  next   regular  meeting  ; 
but  if  at  any  time  there  be  two  vacancies,  it  shall   be  the-'duty  of  the  Standing 
Committee  forthwith  to  fill  the   same,  which   appointment  shall  be  valid  until 
others  be  appointed   in  their  place  by  the  Society  ;  and  immediately  upon  the 
appointment  of  any  new  Trustee  or  Trustees,  all  investments  of  the  Society's 
funds  shall  be  transferred  to  the  joint  names  of  the  then  existing  Trustees  as 
joint  tenants. 

Section  i.  All  money  paid  into  the  Treasury  by  persons  admitted,  in  pur 
suance  of  the  foregoing  rules  and  regulations,  shall  be  considered  as  part  of  the 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


J35 


funds  or  principal  money  belonging  to  the  Society,  and  shall  be  invested  in  the 
name  of  the  Trustees. 

XII.  The  Secretary  shall  keep  the  minutes  of  the  Society  and  of  the  Stand 
ing  Committee,  and  shall  have  the  custody  of  the  books  and  papers  belonging 
to  the  Society. 

XIII.  The  Treasurer  shall  receive  all  moneys  belonging  to  the  Society  arising 
from  the  interest  or  income  of  the  Society's  funds,  or  other  sources  of  revenue. 
He  shall  keep  an  account  with  some  Bank  or  Trust  Company,  or  both,  in  the  City 
of  New  York,  in  which  he  shall  deposit  all  moneys  so  received  by  him,  on  account 
of  the  Society,  in  the  name  and  to  the  credit  of  "  The  New  York  State  Society 
of  the  Cincinnati,"  subject  to  draft  upon  checks  signed  by  the  Treasurer  of  the 
Society  for  the  time  being.     He  shall   keep  regular  accounts  and   submit   them 
to  the  inspection  of  the  Standing  Committee  whenever  required  by  them  to  do 
so.     He  shall  present  an  annual  report  and  account  of  all   moneys  received  and 
paid  out  by  him  during  the  year,  and  shall  submit  the  same,  together  with  the 
vouchers  for  his  payments,  to  the  Auditing  Committee,  to  be  appointed  by  the 
Standing  Committee,  in  time  that  the  same  may  be  examined  by  them  and  be 
presented  to  the  Society  at  their  Annual    Meeting,  except  the  payment  of  the 
expenses  attending  the  Anniversary  Meeting  of  the  Society,  which  may  be  paid 
by  him  upon  the  order  of  the  President  or  Vice-President,  countersigned  by 
the  Secretary. 

XIV.  Every  member,   upon  his  admission,  shall  be   entitled  to  receive  a 
Diploma  or  Certificate  of  Membership,  to  be  signed   by  the   President  of  the 
State  Society  and  countersigned  by  the  Secretary,  for  which  Diploma  he  shall 
pay  the  Treasurer,  before  signing  the  roll  of  the  Society,  the  sum  of  ten  dollars. 
The  fees  thus  paid  shall  be  for  the  use  of  the  Society  and  be  considered  as 
part  of  the  revenue  for  the  current  year. 

XV.  All   officers,   delegates,   trustees,  and  members  of  the  Standing  Com 
mittee,  shall  continue  in  their  respective  authorities  until  the  election  of  others 
in  their  stead. 

XVI.  No  rule  or  by-law  shall  be   altered  or  repealed  or  suspended   unless 
such  alteration,  repeal  or  suspension  shall   have  been  proposed  at  one  Annual 
Meeting  and  agreed  to  at  the   next,  and   no  new  rule   or  by  law  shall  be  made 
(except  upon  the  written  recommendation  of  the  Standing  Committee)  unless  it 
shall  have  been  proposed  at  one  Annual  Meeting  and  agreed  to  at  the  next. 

XVII.  Stated  meetings  of  the   Standing  Committee  shall  be  held  at  least 
twice  in  each  year,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  at  intervals  of  six  months.     The  time 
and  place  of  meeting,  whether  stated   or  special,  shall  be  named  by  the   Presi 
dent,  or  in  case  of  his  death,  absence  or  inability  to  act,  by  the  Vice, President. 
Notice  of  the  time  and  place  of  meeting  shall  be  given  in  writing  by  the  Secre 
tary  to  each  member  of  the  Committee  at  least  two  days  before  the  meeting. 

In  case  of  the  death,  absence  or  inability  to  act  of  both  the  President  and 
Vice-President,  the  Secretary  shall  designate  the  time  and  place  of  such  meet 
ing,  and  in  case  of  his  death,  absence  or  inability  to  act,  the  meeting  may  be 
called  by  the  Treasurer,  or  by  any  three  members  of  the  Standing  Committee. 

XVIII.  The  Society  shall  at  the  Annual  Meeting  each  year,  from  among 
its  members,  elect  a  Chaplain  and  a  Physician,  each  of  whom  shall  be  ex-officio 
a  member  of  the  Standing  Committee. 


136  TH6    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

XIX.  Whenever  any  person  shall  be   admitted  to  the  right  to  become  a 
member  of  the  Society,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  forthwith  to  give 
him  notice  thereof,  and  the  person  thus  admitted  must  immediately  thereupon 
subscribe  the  roll  and  pay  whatever  may  be  required  by  the  rules  or  regulations, 
by-laws  or  order  of  the  Society,  and  in  case  he  neglect  so  to  do  for  the  space  of 
one  year  from  the  date  of  the  vote  or  election  admitting  him  to  the   right  to 
become  a  member,  such  vote  or  election  shall  be,  and   be  deemed   and  held  to 
be,  revoked,  annulled,  inoperative  and  entirely  void,  and  he  shall  not  thereafter 
be  entitled  to  subscribe  the  roll  or  be  considered  in  any  way  as  a  member  of  the 
Society,  or  entitled  to  become  such,   unless  upon   a  new  application  for  admis 
sion  he  shall  again  be  admitted  to  such  right. 

XX.  The  fund  of  this  State  Society,  having  been  contributed  by  its  mem 
bers  at  its  formation,  is  held  for  the   relief  of  the  hereditary  members  thereof 
and  their  families  who  may  be  in  need  of  such  relief,  and,  therefore,  cannot  be 
appropriated  to  the  relief  of  those  whose   ancestors  were   not  original  members 
of  this  State  Society  :  Provided,  that  the  members  admitted  to  this  Society  in 
the  right  of  an  original  member  of  any  of  the  State  Societies  that  have  been  dis 
solved,  and  the  members  admitted   in   the   right  of  an   original  member  of  any 
State  Society,  who  shall  have  paid,  as  a  condition  of  their  membership,  into  the 
Treasury  of  this  Society,  such  sum  as  this  State  Society  may  from  time  to  time 
establish,  shall    have    the    same    claim    on  the   fund  of  this  Society,  as   if  the 
original  members,   in  whose   right  they  were   admitted,  had   contributed  their 
month's  pay  thereto. 


The  President  (Mr.  Fish)  having  laid  before  the  Society,  at  the  annual 
meeting,  a  letter  from  the  President  of  the  South  Carolina  State  Society,  in 
reference  to  commemorating  the  centennial  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Coivpens, 
which  occurred  on  the  iyth  January,  1781,  the  following  was  adopted  : 

Whereas,  This  Society  recognize  the  importance  of  the  battle  of  Cowpens,  in  its  result 
toward  the  attainment  of  independence,  the  creation  of  a  nation,  and  desires  to  unite  with  the 
patriotic  citizens  of  all  and  every  part  of  the  territory  embraced  within  the  limits  of  our  common 
country  in  the  commemoration  of  the  events  which  made  us  a  nation,  and  gave  us  the  precious 
rights  of  free  men,  and  a  recognized  place  among  the  family  of  nations  ;  and 

Whereas,  by  the  reason  of  the  absence  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York,  no 
action  can  be  taken  in  behalf  of  the  State  by  its  authorization  in  participation  in  the  contemplated 
commemoration  ;  and 

Whereas,  some  of  the  original  members  of  this  State  Society  participated  in  the  said  battle, 
and  all  of  its  members,  past,  and  present,  have  sympathized  with  those  who  were  actors  in  the 
gallant  strife  of  Morgan,  and  in  his  victory  over  Tarleton,  which  checked  the  onward  march  of 
the  enemy,  who  had  successfully  overrun  our  Southern  territory. 

Resolved,  That  this  Society  does  cheerfully  unite  in  the  proposed  commemoration  and  in  the 
project  to  erect  a  monument  in  memory  and  in  honor  of  the  event  and  of  those  who  shared  in  the 
victory,  and  for  this  purpose  contributes  the  suggested  sum  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

Resolved,  That  Mr.  Hamilton,  General  Cochrane  and  Mr.  Crosby  be  a  committee  to  co-oper 
ate  with  the  Governor  of  this  State,  and  with  such  others  as  may  be  duly  authorized  by  or  in 
behalf  of  other  States,  or  by  any  of  the  State  Societies  of  the  Cincinnati  (or  in  failure  of  any 
other  being  thus  authorized),  then  of  themselves  to  take  such  measures,  in  conjunction  with  the 
Committee  of  which  the  Mayor  of  Charleston  is  Chairman,  as  may  be  advisable,  and  proper  in 
that  direction,  for  the  attainment  of  the  object. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  137 

1881. 

At  the  Anniversary  meeting  the  following  Report  of  the  Delegates  to  the  Gen 
eral  Society,  which  met  in  Charleston  on  the  i3th  of  April  last,  was  read: 

In  general  no  formal  report  in  writing  has  been  heretofore  made  by  your  Delegates  to  the 
Triennial  Meetings  of  the  Society,  but  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Society  in  Charleston  on 
1 3th  April,  1881,  were  so  serious,  and  involved  so  wide  a  departure  from  the  "Immutable" 
principles  and  the  uniform  action  of  the  Society,  that  a  statement  of  the  course  of  your  Delegates 
at  that  meeting  seems  to  them  not  only  to  be  justified  but  required. 

This  departure  arose  with  reference  to  the  admission  of  the  revived  Rhode  Island  Society  to 
membership  in  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati. 

This  question  had  appeared  first  in  the  Triennial  Meeting  at  Boston,  May  29,  1872,  and  was 
referred  to  a  Committee  of  which  Admiral  Thatcher  was  Chairman.  This  Committee  reported, 
and  their  report  was  agreed  to  and  ordered  placed  on  its  Minutes.  It  declared  that  it  might  be 
expedient  and  proper  for  the  General  Society  to  consider  any  such  application-  for  readmission. 
Provided,  among  other  conditions,  satisfactory  evidence  had  been  presented  that  the  amount  of 
the  fund  existing  at  the  time  of  the  disbandment  of  the  Society  had  been  fully  made  up  with 
simple  interest. 

At  the  Triennial  Meeting  in  Philadelphia  in  1878,  delegates  from  the  Rhode  Island  Society 
appeared  and  claimed  admission.  The  application  was  referred  to  a  Committee  oiFive,  one  from 
each  of  the  States  present,  who  were  directed  to  inquire  into  the  circumstances  attending  the  dis 
solution  of  any  Society,  "  the  distribution  of  the  funds,"  &c.  Two  reports  were  presented  to 
the  Society,  but  a  resolution  was  adopted  to  recommit  the  application  to  the  Committee  for  fuller 
information  and  to  report  at  the  next  meeting. 

This  next  meeting  was  the  Triennial  Meeting  in  Charleston  on  :3th  April  last,  when  the  Dele 
gates  from  Rhode  Island  again  attended. 

The  Committee  of  Five  made  a  very  full  and  very  clear  report  of  the  most  impartial  character, 
through  their  Chairman,  Gen  Cochrane.  The  report  was  unanimous,  four  out  -of'  five  members 
from  the  various  States  being  present  and  agreeing  upon  the  following  facts  based  upon  written 
evidence  of  the  Rhode  Island  Society  and  its  officers  and  the  Records  of  the  Bank. 

From  this  report  it  appeared  that  on  4th  July,  1832,  a  resolution  was  adopted  by  the  Society 
that  it  be  dissolved  and  the  funds  be  divided  and  distributed  among  the  original  members  and 
their  heirs  and  representatives,  and  a  Committee,  composed  of  the  President,  Treasurer  and  John 
S.  Dexter,  was  appointed  to  carry  the  resolution  into  effect.  It  is  true  no  quorum  was  present  at 
this  meeting,  but  the  Committee  acted  for  several  years,  and  did  substantially  divide  all  the 
invested  funds  and  cash  of  the  Society,  amounting  on  4th  July,  1832,  to  more  than  $4,400,  among 
its  members  in  pursuance  of  the  resolution,  and  for  a  period  of  more  than  forty  years  this  resolu 
tion  to  dissolve  the  Society  and  divide  its  funds  was  acted  upon  and  acquiesced  in  without  dissent 
or  protest  in  any  quarter. 

The  Committee  also  found  that  a  further  sum  of  between  $2,000  and  $3,000  had  disappeared, 
but  in  the  absence  of  any  evidence  to  the  contrary  assumed  that  it  had  been  applied  to  the  legiti 
mate  objects  of  the  Society,  and  took  no  account  of  it.  It  appeared  that  the  practice  of  the  last 
Treasurer,  Col.  John  S.  Dexter,  was  to  destroy  the  papers  of  the  Society,  and  that  this  practice 
was  continued  by  his  grand-daughter  under  his  direction  in  1873,  in  regard  to  the  papers  of  the 
Rhode  Island  Society  under  his  control. 

With  this  unanimous  report  of  a  Committee  establishing  the  foregoing  facts,  your  Delegates 
were  confronted  by  the  Institution  adopted  by  the  Fathers  in  1783,  for  the  performance  of  which, 
in  their  own  words,  they  "  solemnly  pledged  to  each  other  their  sacred  honor."  That  pledge  is 
binding  upon  us,  their  descendants,  if  we  would  be  in  character,  as  in  descent,  their  worthy  succes 
sors.  They  declared  in  this  Institution  that  certain  principles  should  be  immtitable,  and  form  the 
basis  of  the  Society,  and  among  these  "immutable  principles  were  "the  most  substantial  acts  of 
"  beneficence  toward  those  officers  and  their  families  who  unfortunately  may  be  under  the  neces- 
"  sity  of  receiving  it." 


138  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

To  form  funds  for  these  acts  of  beneficence  each  officer  gave  one  month's  pay,  which  they 
declared  ' '  shall  remain  forever  to  the  use  of  the  State  Society,  the  interest  only  of  which,  if  neces- 
"  sary,  to  be  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the  unfortunate." 

A  more  sacred  trust  could  scarcely  have  been  devised.  The  State  Societies  were  Trustees, 
and  the  unfortunate  descendants  of  Revolutionary  officers,  the  ccstui  que-tnists  for  whose  benefit 
the  trust  was  created. 

It  was  clear,  then,  that  the  Society  in  Rhode  Island  not  only  had  dissolved,  but  had  remained 
in  that  State  between  forty  and  fifty  years,  showing  on  their  part  total  want  of  interest  in  it,  but 
had  deliberately  committed  a  breach  of  this  trust  and  wrongfully  divided  the  principal  and  interest 
of  the  Revolutionary  Fund  among  its  members  against  the  injunction  of  those  who  created  it,  that 
it  should  remain  for  ever,  and  thereby  violating  the  principle  declared  immutable  by  the  Founders, 
of  extending  acts  of  beneficence  toward  the  unfortunate.  This  principle,  too,  being  the  only  one 
that  has  any  practical  operation  at  this  day. 

Under  such  circumstances  no  choice  was  left  to  your  Delegates.  They  went  as  far  as  they 
were  at  liberty  to  go,  and  one  of  them  offered  resolutions,  which  appear  in  the  Minutes,  to  admit 
the  Society  in  Rhode  Island  to  membership,  on  condition  that  the  Funds  which  had  been  misap 
plied  should  be  made  good  at  any  time  within  three  years,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  President- 
General.  A  motion  to  lay  this  on  the  table,  and  thus  cut  off  debate,  was  made  for  the  first  time, 
it  is  believed,  in  the  history  of  the  Society.  This  motion  was  carried  by  21  to  13  votes,  and  a 
subsequent  resolution  moved  by  the  same  delegate  to  admit  the  Society  in  Rhode  Island  without 
conditions  to  full  membership  prevailed  by  a  like  majority,  giving  an  unfortunate  air  of  precon 
certed  action  to  the  whole  proceeding. 

Upon  the  unanimous  report  of  the  Committee  of  Five,  there  could  of  course  be  no  question 
as  to  the  misconduct  of  the  Society  in  Rhode  Island  in  the  past,  and  your  Delegates,  assuming  on 
the  part  of  their  brethren  who  differed  from  them  an  equal  interest  with  themselves  in  the  fair 
fame  and  character  of  the  Society,  sought  an  explanation  of  the  grounds  on  which  their  action 
was  based.  This  was  given,  and  was  in  substance  that  the  transactions  referred  to  occurred  many 
years  ago,  and  that  the  Delegates  who  appeared  had  not  taken  any  part  in  them  personally,  but 
had  unequivocally  condemned  them.  This  seemed  to  your  Delegates  to  be  wholly  unsound. 
The  Rhode  Island  Delegation  did  not  present  themselves  as  individuals,  as  in  that  character  they 
could  not  have  been  admitted  to  the  General  Society,  but  claimed  to  represent  the  Society  in 
Rhode  Island  of  1783,  and  asked  its  admission,  with  all  its  features  of  omission  and  commission 
upon  its  head,  and  unless  the  General  Society  were  ready  to  condone  its  offences,  and  bear  a  part 
of  the  odium  justly  attaching  to  them,  the  only  course  left  was  to  readmit  upon  restitution  of 
the  Funds. 

Your  Delegates  still  hope  that  the  Society  in  Rhode  Island  will  of  their  own  motion  replace 
the  money  and  dissipate  in  part  the  cloud  now  hanging  over  the  General  Society. 

In  this  unfortunate  proceeding  it  was  some  relief  to  know  that  Massachusetts  and  New  York 
stood  side  by  side  in  maintaining,  so  far  as  they  could,  the  ancient,  and  until  this  year,  the 
unsullied  honor  and  principles  of  the  General  Society.  Though  in  a  minority  of  States,  they 
represented,  as  is  supposed,  a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  Society,  and  if  they  had  the  misfor 
tune  to  differ  from  so  many  of  their  associates,  they  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  they 
had  adhered  to  the  principles  of  the  Institution,  and  were  supported  by  the  recorded  opinions 
of  such  illustrious  original  members  as  Charles  Colesworth  Pinckney,  Allen  McLane  and  others. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

JOHN  COCHRANE  (Chairman}. 
> 

On  motion,  the  following  remarks  made  by  Mr.  Hamilton  were  ordered  to 
be  printed,  and  accompany  the  above  report : 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren  of  the  New    York  Society  : 

In  submitting  the  Report  just  read,  your  Delegates  to  the  Triennial  Meeting  at  Charleston 
have  brought  to  a  close  the  performance  of  what  has  been  to  them  a  painful  duty.  This  feeling 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  139 

is  rendered  stronger  and  deeper  by  the  sadness,  anxiety  and  gloom  that  hang  over  us,  in  common 
with  the  whole  nation,  to-day. 

By  referring  to  the  printed  Minutes  of  the  Proceedings  at  Charleston,  in  the  hands  of  the 
members,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  report  just  made  is  based  upon,  and  taken  substantially  from 
those  Minutes,  and  that  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  of  the  accuracy  of  the  Minutes  and 
unfortunately  of  the  inevitable  inferences  to  be  drawn  from  them. 

For  myself,  I  confess — though  it  may  show  a  lack  of  fortitude — that  with  the  deep  affection 
and  interest  I  have  always  hitherto  felt  in  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  which  it  was  my 
right  and  duty  to  feel,  these  proceedings  at  Charleston  have  caused  me  much  regret  and  pain, 
since  unless  we  cherish  the  sacred  memories,  and  give  full,  loyal,  adherence  to  the  principles  of 
the  Founders,  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  can  exist  only  in  name. 


On  motion,  the  following  resolution  was  also  adopted  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Report  of  the  Delegates  to  the  Triennial  Meeting  of  the  General  Society, 
in  Charleston,  in  1881,  be  approved  and  placed  upon  the  Minutes  of  the  Society,  and  that  a 
printed  copy  thereof  and  of  this  Resolution  be  transmitted  by  the  Secretary  to  the  Secretary- 
General  and  also  to  the  several  State  Societies. 


Also  the  following  was  adopted  : 

Whereas,  The  General  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  at  the  meeting  held  in  Charleston,  in 
April,  1881,  "Resolved,  That  a  Committee  be  appointed,  consisting  of  one  from  each  State 
Society,  to  be  chosen  at  the  meetings  of  the  State  Societies,  on  the  4th  of  July  next  (viz.  :  the  4th 
of  July,  1881),  the  one  chosen,  if  unable  to  attend,  to  have  the  right,  with  the  approval  of  the 
Society,  to  appoint  a  substitute,  to  which  shall  be  added  the  President  General  as  Chairman  of 
the  Committee,  and  that  said  Committee  be  instructed  and  shall  have  power  to  revise  and  modify 
the  old,  and  present  any  new  rules  and  ordinances  that  they  may  think  best,"  and  further  as  pro 
vided  in  the  said  resolution  of  the  General  Society,  and 

Whereas,  This  State  Society  of  New  York  has,  in  pursuance  of  the  said  resolution,  appointed 
General  John  Cochrane  to  be  the  member  of  the  said  Committee  from  this  State  Society,  therefore 

Resolved,  That  this  Society  doth  approve,  and  hereby  gives  power  to  General  Cochrane,  the 
member  of  the  Committee  from  the  New  York  State  Society,  if  at  anytime  he  be  unable  to  attend, 
to  appoint  a  substitute  in  his  place  on  the  said  Committee,  and  such  substitute  from  time  to  time 
to  change,  and  a  new  substitute  to  appoint,  and  further 

Resolved,  That  in  case  the  said  General  Cochrane  be  at  any  time  unable  either  to  attend  or  to 
appoint  a  substitute  as  above  provided,  that  the  Presiding  Officer  of  this  Society  (for  the  time 
being)  be,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized  to  appoint  another  member  of  this  State  Society,  as  the 
member  of  such  Committee  from  the  New  York  State  Society,  with  like  powers  of  substitution  as 
above  expressed,  and 

Whereas,  The  scope  of  power  granted  to  the  proposed  Committee  is  large,  and  may  involve 
the  future  interests  and  business  of  the  Society,  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  State  Society,  that  care 
and  deliberation  be  had,  and  opportunity  afforded,  if  need  be,  to  consult  and  confer  not  only 
among  the  members  of  the  Committee,  but  possibly  with  the  several  State  Societies,  or  with  the 
officers  thereof,  therefore 

Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  it  is  not 
expedient  to  attempt  to  hasten  the  conclusions  of  the  Committee  in  anticipation  of  a  meeting  of 
the  General  Society,  prior  to  the  regular  time  of  its  meeting,  and  further 

Resolved,  That  the  New  York  State  Society  does  not  favor  the  assembling  of  a  General 
Meeting  during  the  present  year,  there  being,  in  its  opinion,  no  adequate  object  to  compensate 
the  expense  and  inconvenience  of  bringing  delegates  together  so  soon  after  the  General  Meeting 
held  in  April  last. 


140  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Also  the  following  was  adopted  : 

The  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  have  heard  with  heartfelt  sorrow  and 
indignation,  of  the  murderous  assault  upon  James  A.  Garfield,  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES,  and  they  desire  to  express  to  his  family,  their  deep  sympathy  in  the  distressing  calamity 
which  has  so  suddenly  overwhelmed  them  in  the  deepest  grief,  and  to  join  their  prayers  with 
those  of  the  whole  community,  that  our  heavenly  Father  may  bless  with  success,  the  means  used 
for  his  recovery,  and  may  continue  to  our  country  and  its  institutions,  His  care  and  protection 
in  the  severe  trials  that  may  be  impending. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  foregoing,  certified  by  the  President  (Mr.  Fish)  and  the  Secre 
tary  (Mr.  Schuyler)  be  transmitted  by  telegraph  to  the  Hon.  William  M.  Evarts,  Secretary  of 
State  of  the  United  States. 

On  motion,  it  was  also  unanimously 

Resolved,  In  view  of  the  distressing  anxiety  resulting  from  the  present  condition  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  that  the  Society  do  dispense  with  its  usual  Anniversary  Dinner. 


A  communication  from  the  Hon.  John  W.  Johnston,  Chairman  of  the  York- 
town  Congressional  Committee,  extending  to  the  New  York  State  Society  an 
invitation  to  attend  and  participate  in  the  ceremonies  of  the  Centennial  cele 
bration,  to  be  held  at  Yorktown  in  October  next,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
United  States,  was  received  and,  on  motion,  accepted. 


1882. 

At  the  Anniversary  meeting  the  Committee,  upon  the  communication  from 
the  Massachusetts  Society,  made  the  following  report : 

The  Committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  communication  from  the  Standing  Committee  of 
the  Massachusetts  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  to  the  New  York  State  Society  for  its  information, 
having  held  the  same  under  consideration,  respectfully  report  the  following  facts,  and  their 
conclusions  therefrom  : 

Ensign  Frederick  Frye  was  an  original  member  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Society,  and  died 
a  member  thereof.  In  the  year  1836  his  son  Daniel  M  Frye,  then  a  resident  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  was,  on  application,  admitted  a  member  of  the  Cincinnati  by  the  New  York  State  Society, 
upon  the  condition  of  his  paying  ' '  into  the  funds  of  the  Society,  one  month's  pay  upon  the  rank 
held  by  his  father  in  the  Continental  army,  previous  to  its  dissolution."  He  died  in  the  year 
1859,  leaving  unperformed  the  condition  on  which  his  membership  depended.  His  son,  Frederick 
Frye,  also  a  resident  of  the  State  of  New  York,  was  admitted  to  membership  by  the  New  York 
State  Society  in  1859.  He  removed  shortly  thereafter  to  Louisiana,  of  which  State  he  was  a 
resident  for  many  years  prior  to  his  death,  which  occurred  in  New  Qrleans,  22nd  June,  1881. 
His  widow,  Matilda  B.  Frye,  then  and  still  a  resident  of  Louisiana,  applied  for  aid  to  the  New 
York  Society,  and  was  advised,  that  as  no  contribution  to  the  funds  of  the  New  York  Society  had 
ever  been  made  by  her  husband,  or  by  his  ancestors,  her  application  could  not  be  allowed  by  that 
Society.  She  thereupon  addressed  her  application  to  the  Massachusetts  Society,  to  which  it  is 
understood  that  Ensign  Frye  contributed  his  "  one  month's  pay"  at  the  time  of  the  organization 
of  the  Cincinnati,  and  which  Society  has  enjoyed  the  use  of  that  contribution  for  nearly  one 
hundred  years.  The  Massachusetts  Society  rejected  her  petition;  first,  by  reason  of  a  local 
regulation,  and  secondly,  that  as  the  widow  of  Frederick  Frye,  she  had  no  claim  upon  that 
Society. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  141 

Your  Committee  might  justly  rest  a  recommendation  that  the  request  of  Mrs.  Frye  be  not 
granted  by  this  Society,  on  the  ground  that  Daniel  M.  Frye  did  not  during  his  lifetime  comply 
with  the  condition  attached  to,  and  which  qualified  his  membership.  It  is  true  that  technically 
the  condition  did  not  affect  the  tenure  of  Frederick  Frye  who  succeeded  him.  But  your  Committee 
are  of  the  opinion  that  the  consequences  of  a  pecuniary  condition  imposed  and  disregarded, 
should  operate  adversely  to  a  petition  for  pecuniary  relief,  by  the  successor  of  the  delinquent. 

Your  Committee,  however,  are  not  disposed  to  place  their  opinion  on  this  single  ground,  but 
proceed  to  the  consideration  of  the  subject  proposed  and  discussed  in  the  communication  sub 
mitted  to  this  Society  for  its  information,  by  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  Massachusetts 
Society. 

The  postulate  of  the  proposition  submitted  by  the  Massachusetts  Society,  "  that  no  one  can 
be  a  member  of  two  sister  Societies  of  the  Cincinnati  at  the  same  time,"  is  regarded  by  your 
Committee  as  untenable.  The  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  is  one.  Its  unity  is  as  indestructible  as 
its  principles.  The  division  into  State  Societies  is  a  peculiar  economy  of  its  government,  which, 
avowedly  to  facilitate  communication,  delegates  to  each  State  a  fractional  representation  of  the 
whole.  Upon  admission  to  membership  by  a  State  Society,  the  candidate  does  not  thereby 
become  a  member  of  the  State  Society,  but  of  the  ONE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS.  Thenceforth  he  is 
a  member  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  his  residence  determines  in  the  proceedings  of 
which  of  its  Chapters  he  is  entitled  to  participate.  Had  Frederick  Frye,  having  been  admitted  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  removed  to  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  it  is  not  supposed  that  his 
prescribed  access  to  the  Society  in  Massachusetts  would  have  disturbed  his  rights  as  a  member  of 
the  Cincinnati.  The  Institution  of  the  Society  declares  that  "the  State  Societies  will  consist  of 
all  the  members  resident  in  each  State  respectively;  and  any  member  removing  from  one  State  to 
another  is  to  be  considered  in  all  respects  as  belonging  to  the  Society  of  the  State  in  which  he 
shall  actually  reside" — a  provision  qualified  by  the  right  of  each  "  State  Society  to  regulate  every 
thing  respecting  itself  '  consistent  with  the  general  maxims  of  the  Cincinnati,"  in  virtue 
of  which  the  State  Societies  have  prescribed  rules  regulating  the  enrollment  among  their  members 
of  those  removing  among  them  from  another  State  Society. 

It  remains  to  enquire  whether  Frederick  Frye — having  been  admitted  a  member  of  the  Cin 
cinnati  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  having  removed  from  the  State  of  New  York  and  become 
a  resident  of  Louisiana,  where  he  died,  and  where  his  widow  continues  to  reside — the  application 
of  his  widow  for  relief  is  properly  addressed  to  the  Society  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  in 
whose  treasury  the  contribution  of  "  one  month's  pay  "  of  Frederick  Frye's  ancestor,  was  deposited 
and  remains. 

In  the  third  order  of  the  fundamental  principles  to  which  was  committed  the  perpetuity  of 
the  Society,  is  enumerated  the  continuance  among  its  members  of  progressive  generations,  of  the 
cordial  affection  which  subsisted  among  its  founders.  The  confident  expectation  that  from  this 
source  would  flow  "  the  most  substantial  acts  of  beneficence,  according  to  the  ability  of  the 
Society,  toward  those  officers  and  their  families  who,  unfortunately,  might  be  under  the  necessity 
of  receiving  it,"  is  particularly  sanctioned  by  the  Institution.  It  is  noteworthy  also,  that  this 
expectation  comprehended  a  dispensation  of  the  same  measure  of  relief  to  the  unfortunate  mem 
bers  of  the  Cincinnati  of  successive  generations  and  their  families.  The  efficacy  of  the  obligation 
was  not  entrusted  to  its  annunciation  alone.  Not  only  the  source  of  supply  to  these  anticipated 
requisitions  upon  the  benevolence  of  the  Society,  but  the  mode  of  their  inception  and  acquittal  is 
fairly  indicated  in  the  fundamental  Charter.  To  those  officers  only,  of  the  American  Army,  was 
accorded  the  right  of  becoming  parties  to  the  Institution,  who  both  signed  their  names  to  the 
general  rules  of  the  Society  in  the  State  where  they  resided,  and  subscribed  one  month's  pay  to 
its  funds.  That  the  sums  subscribed  might  be  available  for  their  purpose,  they  were  directed  to 
be  delivered  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  State  Society  in  perpetuity.  The  expected  respectable  pro 
portions  of  their  aggregate,  warranting  the  belief  that  its  interest  would  be  adequate  to  the  relief 
of  the  unfortunate,  its  interest  only  was  appropriated  to  that  object.  Thus  the  sum  delivered 
into  the  Treasury  of  each  State  Society  by  the  original  members  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati 
constituted  a  fund  ordained  inviolate  to  the  use  of  that  State  Society  forever,  the  interest  of 
which  was  to  be  appropriated  to  the  relief  of  those  who  contributed  thereto,  or  their  unfortunate 
representatives.  Though  the  obligation  of  relief  is,  as  we  have  seen,  a  general  obligation  of  the 
Society,  yet  the  eleemosynary  fund  of  each  State  Society  having  been  raised  by  its  original  mem- 


142  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

bers,  and  appropriated  to  the  exclusive  use  of  that  Society  forever,  the  omission  of  the  Society 
would  be  presently  revealed,  which  should  fail  to  use  it  for  the  purpose  to  which  the  Institution 
devotes  it.  Its  use  is  appointed  to  the  relief  of  the  original  members  who  contributed  to  the 
fund,  and  their  families,  and  of  those  and  the  families  of  those  who  become  members  in  the 
right  of  the  original  members.  In  the  opinion  of  your  Committee,  a  claim  for  relief  is  rightly 
and  equitably  addressed  to  that  State  Society  which  holds  the  contribution  to  the  Society's  fund, 
made  by  the  original  member  in  succession  to  whom  the  claimant  appeals.  The  right  of  relief 
to  the  original  member  inheres  in  the  fund  raised  by  his  month's  pay.  Unless  subscribed,  he 
had  not  become  a  party  to  the  Institution.  Its  delivery  therefore  was  the  essential  consideration 
in  which  his  rights  under  it  were  conveyed  to  him  ;  and  first  among  those  rights  is  the  right  to 
partake,  in  misfortune,  of  the  fund  in  which  his  "  one  month's  pay  " — the  token  of  his  patriotic 
personal  exposure — is  embedded.  That  his  descendant  admitted  in  the  right  succeeds  to  the  rights 
to  the  original  member  is  obvious  enough.  If,  therefore,  it  is  impossible  to  withstand  the  right  of 
the  original  member  to  relief  from  the  fund  of  which  his  "  one  month's  pay  "  is  a  part,  it  is  also 
impossible  to  withhold  it  from  the  descendant,  admitted  in  the  right  of  his  ancestor  to  the  benefits 
he  enjoyed.  It  being  self-evident  that  the  right  of  a  member  to  relief  from  a  particular  State 
fund,  imposes  a  corresponding  obligation  on  the  State  Society  to  render  it,  the  question  whether 
the  removal  of  the  member  to  another  State,  discharges  the  State  Society  of  its  obligation,  is 
answered  by  the  conclusion  hereinbefore  reached,  that  the  essential  rights  of  the  member,  and 
consequently  the  obligation  of  the  Society,  remain  unaffected  and  unchanged  by  his  removal. 
The  consequences  of  an  opposite  conclusion  might  embrace  the  spectacle  of  a  State  Society, 
beyond  whose  limits  its  members  shall  have  removed,  in  the  possession  of  a  constantly  accumu 
lating,  but  derelict  fund,  and  of  a  State  Society  with  a  fund  oppressed  by  the  relief  of  migratory 
members,  inadequate  to  the  wants  of  its  unfortunate  hereditary  members  and  their  families. 

For  these  reasons,  your  Committee  are  of  the  opinion,  and  so  report,  that  Matilda  B.  Frye, 
the  surviving  widow  of  Frederick  Frye,  at  his  death  a  member  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati, 
in  the  right  of  his  grandfather  Frederick  Frye,  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Society  in  the 
State  of  Massachusetts,  is  not  entitled  to  relief  from  the  funds  of  the  Society  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  that  her  petition  for  relief  was  properly  addressed  to  the  Massachusetts  Society. 

JOHN  COCHRANE, 
JOHN  SCHUYLER, 

Committee. 

Your  Committee  submit  as  part  of  their  report  the  following  resolutions  : 

Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Society,  the  adoption  of  the  following  regulation 
(substantially  one  of  its  own  by-laws),  would  bring  the  different  State  Societies  at  this  point  into 
harmony  with  each  other  and  with  the  spirit  and  requirements  of  the  Institution,  viz. : 

The  fund  of  this  State  Society,  having  been  contributed  by  its  members  at  its  formation,  is 
held  for  the  relief  of  the  hereditary  members  thereof  and  their  families  who  may  be  in  need  of 
such  relief,  and  therefore  cannot  be  appropriated  to  the  relief  of  those  whose  ancestors  were  not 
original  members  of  this  State  Society  :  Provided,  that  the  members  admitted  to  the  Society  in 
the  right  of  an  original  member  of  any  of  the  State  Societies  that  have  been  dissolved,  and  the 
members  admitted  in  the  right  of  an  original  member  of  any  State  Society,  who  shall  have  paid, 
as  a  condition  of  their  membership,  into  the  Treasury  of  the  Society,  such  sum  as  the  State 
Society  may  from  time  to  time  establish,  shall  have  the  same  claim  on  the  fund  of  the  Society,  as 
if  the  original  members  in  whose  right  they  were  admitted  had  contributed  their  month's 
pay  thereto. 

Resolved,  That  the  report  be  adopted,  and  that  a  printed  copy  thereof  be  respectfully  trans 
mitted  to  the  Massachusetts  Society,  and  to  each  of  the  other  State  Societies  of  the  Cincinnati, 
for  their  consideration. 

On  motion,  a  Committee  consisting  of  the  President,  Mr.  Fish,  General  John 
Cochrane,  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  Alexander  Hamilton,  and  John  Schuyler 
(the  Secretary,}  was  appointed  to  make  arrangements  for  the  celebration  of  the 
Centennial  of  the  Society  in  May  next.  * 


*  Mr  John  Cropper  was  appointed  one  of  this  Committee,  but  declined  to  serve  on  account  of  his  going  abroad. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  143 


1883. 


GENERAL  ORDER,  New  York,  xoth  February,  1883. 

The  Centennial  dinner  of  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  celebrating  the 
1 5 ist  Anniversary  of  the  birthday  of  General  Washington,  will  be  held  at  Delmonico's  (sth 
Avenue),  on  Thursday,  February  22,  at  7  o'clock  i>.  M."X 

JOHN  SCHUYLER  (Secretary).  HAMILTON  FISH  (President}. 


At  the  meeting  of  the  Standing  Committee,  May  ad,  the  Secretary  read  the 
following  communication  from  the  Committee  on  the  celebration  of  the  Evacu 
ation  of  the  City  of  New  York  by  the  British  : 

ROOMS  OF  THE  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE,  Qth  March,  1883. 
The  Honorable  HAMILTON  FISH,  President. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  at  a  meeting  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen,  delegated 
by  the  General  Committee  of  the  Common  Council  of  this  City,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and 
the  New  York  Historical  Society,  it  was  unanimously  resolved  to  invite  the  New  York  Society  of 
the  Order  of  the  Cincinnati,  to  participate  in  the  Centennial  celebration  of  the  Evacuation  of  this 
City  by  the  British,  and  to  extend  honorary  membership  upon  the  Committee  of  Fifteen  to  such 
five  of  your  members  as  your  Society  may  delegate. 

Respectfully  yours, 

JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS  (Secretary).  JOHN  COCHRANE  (Chairman}. 

In  accordance  with  the  above  the  President  delegated  the  following  mem 
bers  :  Mr.  Schuyler  (Chairmaii),  Mr.  Crosby,  Mr.  Keese,  Mr.  Clinton,  and  Mr. 
Clarkson  to  represent  the  Society. 


The  Secretary,  at  the  Anniversary  meeting,  read  a  communication  from  the 
Committee  of  the  Centennial  commemoration  of  the  announcement  of  peace,  and  the 
disbandment  of  the  Army  of  the  Revolution,  which  he  had  received  on  June 
loth,  and  in  accordance  with  which  the  following  was  issued  : 

GENERAL  ORDER,  June  18,  1883. 

Members  of  the  Cincinnati  are  invited  to  attend  the  Centennial  commemoration  of  the 
announcement  of  peace,  and  the  disbandment  of  the  Army  of  the  Revolution,  to  be  held  at  the 
Camp  Ground,  New  Windsor,  on  the  22d  of  June,  1883.  The  Albany  steamboat  touches  at  the 
foot  of  West  22d  Street,  at  9  A.  M.,  for  Newburgh. 

JOHN  SCHUYLER  (Secretary).  HAMILTON  FISH  (President). 


The  Special  Committee  appointed  under  the  resolution  adopted  at  the 
Anniversary  meeting  of  the  Society,  on  the  4th  July,  1882,  to  take  charge  of 
the  Centennial , Celebration  of  the  Society,  reported  as  follows  : 


*  In  the  absence  of  the  President,  the  banquet  was  presided  over  by  the  Secretary \  Mr.  John  Schuyler. 


144  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

That  one  of  the  Committee  being  absent  in  Europe,  no  definite  action  was  taken  until  the 
meeting  of  the  Standing  Committee,  May  2d,  1883,  when  the  Committee  was  organized,  and  an 
appropriation  of  250  dollars  made  for  the  expenses.  As  the  I3th  of  May,  the  day  on  which  the 
Institution  was  adopted,  fell  on  Sunday,  Monday  the  I4th  of  May,  was  fixed  as  the  day  for  the 
excursion  to  Baron  Steuben's  Headquarters,  to  celebrate  the  formation  of  the  Society. 

The  General  Society  having  decided  not  to  commemorate  the  centennial,  otherwise  than  by 
striking  a  medal,  it  was  deemed  proper  to  extend  no  invitations  formally  to  our  sister  State 
Societies,  but  to  treat  the  occasion  according  to  the  fact,  as  a  celebration  by  the  New  York  State 
Society  only.  In  conformity  with  the  usual  practice  of  the  Society,  members  of  other  State 
Societies,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  were  cordially  invited  to  attend,  by  publication  of  the  follow 
ing  notice  and  invitation  in  the  daily  papers,  several  days  before  the  celebration: 

The  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  loth  May,  1883. — In  pursuance  of  a  resolution  adopted  by  the 
New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  an  excursion  will  be  made  to  the  Cantonments  of  the  Revolutionary 
army,  near  New  Windsor,  to  commemorate  the  formation  of  the  Society,  in  May,  1783. 

The  steamboat  Chester  A.  Arthur  will  leave  from  Governor's  Island  ferry  house,  Battery,  foot  of  White 
hall  Street,  N.  Y.  City,  on  Monday,  i4th  May,  1883,  at  9  o'clock  A.  M.,  and  will  touch  at  the  dock,  foot  of  West 
2zd  Street,  at  about  9.30,  en  route  for  West  Point,  Washington's  Headquarters  at  Newburgh,  and  General  Baron 
Steuben's  Headquarters  at  Fishkill. 

Members  of  the  other  State  Societies  in  the  city  are  cordially  invited  to  be  present  on  this  occasion,  wearing 
their  badges  as  members. 

ALEXANDER  HAMILTON,  JOHN  COCHKANE,  PIERRE  VAN  CORTLANDT,  JOHN  SCHUYLER  (Committee). 

Immediately  after  the  2d  of  May,  the  Committee  took  measures  to  secure  a  steamboat,  when 
through  the  kindness  of  General  Hancock  and  the  Deputy  Quarter-Master  General,  Colonel 
Hodges,  the  Government  boat  Chester  A.  Arthur  was  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Committee. 
It  was  thought  proper  to  make  use  of  this  occasion  to  do  special  honor  to  the  officers  of  the  Army 
and  Navy  of  the  United  States,  and  invitations  we're  sent  to  them  accordingly. 

General  Hancock,  from  recent  domestic  afflictions,  was  unable  to  attend,  but  Lieutenant 
Barber,  his  Adjutant,  with  several  distinguished  officers  from  Governor's  Island  and  the  Army 
Post  in  New  York  City,  were  present.  The  Navy  was  represented  by  Admiral  Nicholson, 
Commodores  Upshur  and  Kane,  Lieutenant  Arnold  and  others.  Members  of  the  other  State 
Societies  were  among  the  guests.  To  our  great  regret,  the  President  of  our  Society,  from 
lameness  caused  by  an  accident,  was  unable  to  be  present,  but  our  venerable  Vice-President, 
William  S.  Popham,  was  on  board,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all.  The  steamboat,  with  the  military 
band  from  Fort  Hamilton,  left  New  York  about  nine  and  a  half  o'clock,  and  touching  at  West 
Point,  the  party  was  joined  by  about  twenty  officers  from  that  Post,  including  Lieutenant 
Hoyle,  the  Adjutant  to  represent  General  Merritt,  the  Superintendent,  who  was  detained  by  his 
official  duties.  After  leaving  West  Point,  a  collation  was  served  (by  Delmonico),  and  at  its  close 
the  memory  of  Washington  was  given — as  usual,  standing  and  in  silence.  As  the  steamboat  passed 
Newburgh,  a  salute  of  thirteen  guns  was  fired  from  Washington's  Headquarters,  and  flags 
were  displayed  throughout  the  town.  The  steamboat  anchored  off  the  dock,  at  the  foot  of  the 
lawn  of  the  Verplanck  homestead,  and  the  members  and  their  guests  landed  in  rowboats. 

They  were  met  on  the  landing,  and  most  kindly  received  by  Messrs.  Verplanck  and  their 
friends,  and  escorted  to  the  house,  where  the  ladies  of  the  family  gave  them  a  cordial  welcome. 
A  collation  was  served,  and  at  its  close,  the  members  of  the  Verplanck  family,  the  members  of 
the  Society  and  their  guests  assembled  in  the  large  hall  where  the  Society  was  formed.  Here 
the  principles  that  form  the  basis  of  the  Society  were  read  from  the  Institution,  and  a  few  words 
were  said  expressing  the  Society's  gratification  that  they  were  permitted  to  meet  in  a  spot 
hallowed  to  them  by  the  dearest  memories,  and  then,  with  many  adieus,  the  members  and  their 
guests  returned  to  the  shore  and  went  on  board  again.  Unfortunately,  head  tides  and  the 
unavoidable  delays  of  landing  in  small  boats  had  brought  the  party  to  a  late  hour  in  the  after 
noon,  and  the  Committee  were  reluctantly  compelled  to  disappoint  the  citizens  of  Newburgh,  and 
omit  a  part  of  the  proceedings  as  advertized,  by  giving  up  the  visit  to  Washington's  Headquarters. 

A  heavy  storm  that  was  coming  up  contributed  to  this  determination. 

The  steamboat  proceeded  on  its  way  to  New  York,  after  landing  the  officers  from  West 
Point,  reaching  the  city  between  ten  and  eleven  o'clock.  And  so,  this  memorable  day  ended, 
without  an  accident  to  mar  in  the  slightest  degree  its  enjoyment.  If,  as  Dr.  Johnson  said  in 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  145 

that  well-known  passage—"  That  man  is  little  to  be  envied  whose  patriotism  would  not  gain 
force  upon  the  plain  of  Marathon  " — what  ought  to  have  been — what  were  our  feelings — the 
representatives  and  descendants,  in  visiting  the  spot,  the  birthplace  of  our  Society,  where,  one 
hundred  years  ago,  the  officers  of  the  Revolutionary  Army,  as  true  patriots  as  ever  honored 
humanity,  founded  an  Association  based  upon  liberty,  union,  friendship  and  charity,  as  the 
closing  act  of  eight  years  of  unequalled  fortitude  and  devotion.  Everything  served  to  heighten 
these  feelings — the  venerable  house  built  in  1730,  with  its  ample  hall,  oaken  floors,  paneled  walls, 
generous  wood  fires,  much  as  they  were  in  1783 — the  old  ante-revolutionary  trees  surrounding  it 
— the  presence  of  the  noted  family,  owners  of  the  land  from  the  I7th  century  to  the  present 
time — and,  above  all,  the  endearing  Revolutionary  memories,  more  than  sufficient  to  rouse  us 
from  that  "  frigid  indifference,"  to  which  Dr.  Johnson  refers  with  contempt  in  the  passage  alluded 
to.  What  wonder  if  moistened  eyes  and  a  quiet  but  deep  interest  pervaded  the  party  assembled 
in  that  old  hall,  as  we  read  from  the  Institution  those  principles,  simple,  but  earnest,  in  which, 
under  the  pledge  to  each  other  of  their  sacred  honor,  our  Fathers  declared  their  unalterable 
devotion  to  liberty,  union,  brotherly  kindness  and  charity,  in  that  very  spot. 

In  the  providence  of  God,  it  shall,  as  we  trust,  be  permitted  to  our  successors  to  celebrate  at 
the  end  of  another  century  the  formation  of  the  Society.  This  brief  record  will  at  least  show 
them  that  in  our  day  we  were  not  unmindful  of  what  was  due  to  the  memory  of  the  Founders. 

New  York,  4th  July,  1883.  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  (Chairman). 


At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Society  held  on  2oth  November,  to  take 
measures  for  participation  in  the  celebration  of  the  coming  Evacuation  day, 
the  President  (Mr.  Fish)  submitted  the  following  invitation  : 

NEW  YORK,   i6th  November,  1883. 
The  Honorable  HAMILTON  FISH  (President). 

The  Joint  Committee  of  the  Common  Council,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of 
New  York  and  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  charged  with  the  celebration  of  the  one  hun 
dredth  Anniversary  of  the  Evacuation  of  the  City  of  New  York  by  the  British  in  1783,  appointed 
for  Monday,  the  26th  inst. ,  respectfully  invite  the  presence  of  your  honorable  Society  at  the 
ceremonies  arranged  for  the  occasion. 

With  great  regard,  your  obedient  servant,  by  order, 
JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS  (Secretary).  JOHN  COCHRANE  (Chairman). 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Standing  Committee  held  on  the  i4th  December,  the 
Committee,  on  securing  in  the  gallery  of  the  N.  Y.  Historical  Society  a  place 
for  the  safe  keeping  of  the  oil  painting  of  Lieutenant  Abijah  Hammond, 
recently  presented  to  this  Society  by  his  son,  made  the  following  : 

Report,  That  they  had  visited  the  Historical  Society  and  conferred  with  the  Committee  on  Literature  and 
Art,  in  relation  to  depositing  the  oil  picture  of  Lieutenant  Hammond  for  safe  keeping  in  their  gallery,  with  the 
one  of  the  Sergeant-at-Arms — Bryan  Rossiter — which  had  been  painted  and  presented  to  the  Society  on  the  4th 
July.  1828,  by  Colonel  John  Trumbull,  and  which  had  been  deposited  there  several  years  ago  for  the  same  reason. 
The  Committee  objected  to  taking  Lieutenant  Hammond's  portrait  on  account  of  its  frame  not  being  sufficiently 
ornamental,  or  of  a  suitable  modern  design  to  warrant  their  receiving  it,  and  therefore  declined  its  presentation. 

WILLIAM    H.  CROSBY,   Chairman. 


The  Secretary  having  stated  that  he  had  received  several  communications 
from  General  Palfrey  in  regard  to  the  Centennial  Medal,  the  Society  ordered  the 
following  notice  to  be  sent  to  each  of  its  members  : 


146  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

In  accordance  with  a  resolution  passed  by  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  New  York  State 
Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  the  Secretary  was  instructed  to  notify  each  member  of  the  Society  that 
the  Centennial  Medal  authorized  by  the  General  Society  at  its  last  meeting  at  Charleston,  S.  C.,  is 
now  ready,  and  will  be  sent  to  those  members  ordering  the  same,  by  addressing  a  communication 
to  that  effect  to  General  Francis  W.  Palfrey,  Secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Society,  No.  33 
Equitable  Building,  Boston,  Mass.,  stating  the  metal  of  which  they  desire  to  have  their  badge, 
enclosing  the  amount,  and  address  to  which  they  desire  them  sent.  The  price  of  the  medal  in 
gold  will  be  $20  ;  in  silver,  $2  ;  and  in  bronze,  $1.30. 

Respectfully,  &c. ,  JOHN  SCIIUYLER,  Secretary. 

NEW  YORK,  Jan.  isth,  1884.  N.  Y.  STATE  SOCIETY  OF  THE  CINCINNATI. 

On  the  1 8th  October  the  City  of  Newburgh  held  a  Centennial  Celebration.  The 
invitations  thereto  having  been  sent  by  their  Committee  of  Arrangements  to 
the  members  of  the  Cincinnati  individually,  no  general  order  was  issued  to 
attend.  Many  of  the  members  endeavored  to  do  so,  but  from  the  inefficiency 
of  the  Grand  Marshal  or  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  in  preserving  order, 
it  was  impossible  to  gain  admittance  to  the  grand  stand. 


1884. 


At  the  Anniversary  meeting  the  Committee  on  the  Centennial  of  the  Evacua 
tion  of  the  City  of  New  York,  respectfully 

Report,  That  in  conformity  with  the  resolution  passed  by  the  Society  at  the  Special  Meeting 
of  November  2Oth.  last,  all  the  members  of  this  Society,  as  well  as  those  of  the  other  State 
Societies,  Were  notified,  and  that  the  Order  of  the  Cincinnati  at  the  grand  stand  at  Madison 
Square,  notwithstanding  the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  was  represented  by  the  President-General 
in  person  and  a  full  delegation  from  the  several  State  Societies. 

ALEXANDER. J.   CLINTON,  Chairman. 


1885. 


At  the  Standing  Committee  meeting,  held  on  the  i2th  May,  Mr.  Fish  stated 
that  he  had  received  a  bronze  medal  from  the  Committee  to  commemorate  the 
Centennial  Celebration  of  the  Evacuation  of  New  York  by  the  British,  and  the 
erection  of  the  Statue  of  WASHINGTON  in  Wall  Street,  together  with  a  letter 
presenting  the  same  to  the  Society.* 

GENERAL  ORDER. 

Members  of  the  Cincinnati  Society  are  requested  to  attend  the  funeral  of  our  Vice-President, 
William  S.  Popham,  from  his  late  residence  at  Scarsdale,  Westchester  County,  N.  Y.,  on  Satur 
day,  June  2Oth.  Carriages  will  be  in  readiness  at  the  Scarsdale  Station  upon  the  arrival  of  the 
half-past  two  p.  M.  Harlem  Railroad  train  from  the  Grand  Central  Depot.  The  usual  badge  of 
mourning  will  be  worn  for  thirty  days. 

JOHN  SCHUYLER,  Secretary.  HAMILTON  FISH,  President. 

At  the  4th  of  July  Anniversary  Meeting  a  committee  was  appointed  to  pre 
pare  appropriate  resolutions,  to  be  forwarded  to  the  other  State  Societies  and 
to  Mr.  Popham's  family. 

*  The  medal  was  struck  by  the  American  Numismatic  and  Archa;ological  Society. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  147 

GENERAL  ORDER,  August  8th. 

The  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  join  in  the  universal  grief  occasioned  by  the 
death  of  their  fellow  member  General  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT.*  They  appreciate  that  a  great 
and  good  man  has  departed,  and  will  take  part  in  the  demonstration  of  honor  to  be  paid  to  his 
memory.  The  Society  will,  therefore,  assemble  on  the  morning  of  the  funeral,  at  old  Delmonico's, 
corner  of  Beaver  and  South  William  Streets,  at  9  o'clock,  wearing  the  usual  badge  of  mourning. 

Members  of  the  other  State  Societies,  in  town,  are  invited  to  attend  and  report  to  the  Secre 
tary  or  Aide  in  charge. 

JOHN  SCHUYLER,  HAMILTON  FISH  (President-General). 

Secretary  and  Aide  to  General  Hancock. 


1886 


GENERAL  ORDER,  February  loth. 

The  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  has  to  lament  the  death  of  Major-General  WINFIELD 
SCOTT  HANCOCK, f  an  honorary  member  of  the  Society.  A  soldier  of  the  highest  order,  a 
citizen  of  pure  life,  a  friend  of  all  that  was  lofty,  he  is  called  suddenly  from  his  high  position  of 
usefulness. 

Members  are  requested  to  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days. 

JOHN  SCHUYLER  (Secretary).  HAMILTON  FISH  (President). 

At  the  meeting  held  at  Delmonico's  on  the  22<3  of  February,  to  celebrate 
the  i54th  anniversary  of  the  birthday  of  the  Society's  first  President-General, 
His  Excellency  General  WASHINGTON,  it  was  on  motion  of  General  John 
Cochrane — 


Resolved — That  it  is  with  painful  emotions  we  record  the  loss  our  Society  has  sustained  in  the 
decease  of  its  late  distinguished  member,  our  honored  associate  and  friend,  the  Honorable 
WILMOT  GIBBES  DE  SAUSSURE,  of  South  Carolina.  Known  to  us  all  as  a  chivalrous 
gentleman,  the  story  of  his  life  narrates  the  history  of  an  accomplished  scholar.  We  sympathize 
with  our  sister  State  Society  of  South  Carolina  in  the  deprivation  of  their  President,  and  with  his 
surviving  family  in  their  irreparable  bereavement. 


*  General  Grant  died  on  the  23d  July,  1885. 
t  General  Hancock  died  on  the  gth  February, 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 


MEMBERS 


NEW    YORK    STATE    SOCIETY 


CINCINNATI. 


JONAS     ADDOMS 

Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Born  in  New  Jersey.     Died  i6th  of  July,  1837.     Aged  85. 

He  came  early  into  New  York,  became  an  Associate)-  for  Independence 
in  1775,  and  joined  as  a  private  a  uniformed  company  in  New  York,  when 
the  "  Asia  "  opened  fire  upon  the  city,  destroying  a  part  of  it  west  of  Broad 
way.  Was  attached  to  the  corps  of  five  months  men  thrown  upon  Long 
Island,  and  served  at  the  Narrows  when  Lord  Howe's  fleet  landed  the  British 
Army  at  New  Utrecht.  He  then  returned  to  New  Jersey  with  a  company  of 
militia,  and  was  its  acting  Quartermaster  when  it  joined  General  Washington  at 
the  Battle  of  Germantown,  arriving,  after  a  night's  march,  in  front  of  the 
British  line  in  season  to  aid  in  driving  it  back.  He  was  afterwards  detailed  as 
Assistant  to  Colonel  Timothy  Pickering,  Quartermaster-General,  from  ist  of 
October,  1780.  Meanwhile  he  had  served  at  White  Plains,  and  in  the  struggle 
to  check  the  advance  in  Westchester,  after  the  Battle  of  Long  Island.  In 
August,  1781,  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Clinton  in  the  "New  Levies," 
and  commissioned  by  Congress,  January  29th,  1782,  as  Second  Lieutenant  of  the 
2d  Regiment  of  Continental  Artillery — Colonel  John  Lamb — with  rank  from  2oth 
of  August.  In  regimental  orders,  2ist  of  December,  1781,  on  the  special 
recommendation  of  Colonel  Richard  Platt,  he  was  assigned  to  Captain  George 
Fleming's  company  of  that  regiment,  and  served  with  it  through  many 
engagements  to  the  close  of  the  war.  Lieutenant  Addoms  had  the  privilege  of 
marching  into  New  York  after  its  evacuation  on  the  25th  of  November,  1783, 
with  the  main  army,  and  to  be  stationed  with  his  battery  in  the  old  Fort 
in  the  City  Park  still  known  by  that  name.  After  the  termination  of  the  war, 
ist  of  January,  1784,  he  was  mustered  out,  with  part  of  his  regiment,  with  an 
honorable  discharge. 

He  subsequently  located  at  Philadelphia,  and  later  at  Boston  ;  but  after 
three  years  returned  to  New  York,  being  appointed  by  Colonel  Lamb,  his  old 
commander — then  Collector  of  the  Port — first  as  Weigher  and  then  as  Public 
Storekeeper,  and  remained  attached  to  the  service  of  the  Customs,  through  all 
political  changes,  for  thirty-three  years,  until  he  retired  to  pass  the  evening  of 


152  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

his  life  in  domestic  quiet,  esteemed  as  a  brave  man,  and  a  vigilant  public 
servant.     His  name  appears  on  the  roll  of  officers  entitled  to  Half-Pay.* 

CHARLES  ADDOMS,  his  eldest  son,  succeeded  him  in  the  Society  in 
1843.  He  died  in  1881,  leaving  issue  a  daughter. 

ROGER     ALDEN 

Staff  rank  of  Major  and  Aide-de- Camp. 

Born  in  Lebanon,  Conn.,  in  1748,  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1773, 
and  died  at  West  Point  on  the  5th  of  November,  1836.  Was  appointed 
Captain  Lieutenant  in  the  2d  Connecticut  Regiment — Colonel  Zebulon  Butler — 
ist  of  June,  1778.  That  regiment,  commanded  by  a  soldier  of  the  French  war, 
who  was  in  the  expedition  to  Havana,  afforded  Lieutenant  Alden  very  soon  a 
baptism  of  fire  in  the  terrors  of  the  Wyoming  massacre,  on  the  3d  of  July 
following,  where  Colonel  Zebulon  Butler,  with  a  thin  regiment  and  a  weak 
garrison,  bravely  ventured  to  attempt  to  surprise  Colonel  John  Butler,  an  enter 
prising  Tory  officer — born  like  himself  in  Connecticut — who  had  invaded  the 
valley  with  double  his  force.  He  was  defeated  with  the  loss  of  half  his  men, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  of  whose  scalps  were  the  trophies  of  his  savage  oppo 
nent  ;  and  the  attendant  ravages  have  never  been  forgotten.  Soon  after  this 
demoralization  of  his  command  he  left  it,  on  the  selection  of  Major-General 
Greene,  to  serve  as  his  Aide-de-Camp.  By  a  resolution  of  the  Connecticut  State 
Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  5th  of  July,  1783,  he  was  admitted  a  member,  signed 
the  roll,  and  contributed  a  month's  pay.  He  subsequently  and  fortunately, 
as  it  proved,  affiliated  with  the  New  York  Society  in  1793,  and  served  as  a 
member  of  its  Standing  Committee.  He  resided  at  Meadville,  Pa.,  from  1795 
to  1825  as  agent  of  the  Holland  Land  Company,  and  was  Ordinance  Store- 
Keeper  at  West  Point  from  2oth  of  January,  1825,  until  his  death. 

ROBERT  PERCY  ALDEN,  his  grandson,  and  son  of  the  late  Captain 
Bradford  Ripley  Alden  of  the  United  States  Navy,  was  admitted  to  the  New 

York  State  Society  on  the  4th  of  July,  1883,  in  his  right. 

^/ 

*  This  question  was  long  discussed  in  Congress,  and  finally  arranged  May  i.sth,  1778.  The  Committee  first 
reported  in  favor  of  its  continuance  for  the  lives  of  officers,  and  of  the  widows  of  those  killed  in  service,  and  finally 
enacted  that  "All  military  officers  commissioned  by  Congress  who  should  continue  in  service  during  the  war,  and 
not  hold  any  office  of  profit  in  the  States,  should  be  entitled  to  receive  annually,  after  the  conclusion  of  the  war, 
one-half  of  their  present  pay,  for  the  term  of  seven  years,  provided  that  no  general  officer,  of  the  artillery, 
cavalry  or  infantry,  should  receive  more  than  the  half-pay  of  a  Colonel,  and  that  this  gratuity  should  extend  to  no 
officer  who  should  not  take  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and  actually  reside  within  the  same."  The 
non-commissioned  officers  and  soldiers  serving  for  that  term,  instead  of  half-pay,  were  entitled  to  receive  a  specific 
reward  of  eighty  dollars  at  the  end  of  the  war.  There  were  but  two  dissenting  votes.  The  law  was  several  times 
subsequently  amended,  mainly  by  extensions  of  its  application  to  special  cases. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  153 

PETER     ANSPACH 

Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

He  served  as  an  Assistant  to  Colonel  Timothy  Pickering,  from  ist  of  Octo 
ber,  1780,  until  appointed  a  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  2d  Regiment  Continental 
Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's — 2ist  of  December,  1781,  having  acted  with 
that  rank  in  Captain  Moodie's  Company  from  the  preceding  3oth  of  August. 
He  was  next  assigned  to  duty  as  Assistant  Quartermaster  in  the  main  Army, 
and  after  the  discharge  of  the  Continental  troops  at  West  Point,  excepting  the 
Battalion  of  Artillery  and  a  Regiment  of  Infantry,  was,  on  the  ist  of  January, 
1784,  ordered  to  Philadelphia  to  settle  his  own  accounts,  and  to  assist  in 
arranging  those  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department. 

Was  honorably  discharged  on  the  ist  of  June,  1784,  and  appears  on  the 
roll  of  officers  entitled  to  half-pay  after  the  Peace. 


EDWARD  ANTILL 

Lieutenant-Colonel   2d   Canada    Regiment. 

Born  on  the  nth  April,  1742,  at  Piscataway,  N.  J.  Died  at  St.  Johns, 
Canada,  in  1787. 

He  graduated  at  King's  College,  New  York,  in  the  Class  of  1762.  Was  a 
member  of  a  prominent  family  of  New  Jersey.  In  1766  he  settled  in  Quebec 
as  a  lawyer,  where  he  married  Charlotte  Rievrier.  When  General  Montgomery 
appeared  before  Quebec  in  December,  1775,  he  left  that  city,  and  joining  him, 
influenced  him  to  change  his  plan  of  attack.  He  became  his  Chief-Engineer, 
constructing  field  works  of  ice,  where  earth  was  inaccessible,  and  was  present 
with  him  when  he  fell.  When  leaving  the  camp  at  Lachine  on  the  5th  of 
January,  five  days  afterwards,  he  wrote  to  Colonel  Burr  : 

"  DEAR  BURR  :  I  have  desired  Mr.  Price  to'deliver  you  my  pistols,  which  you  will  keep  until 
I  see' you.  They  are  relics  from  my  father's  family,  and  therefore  I  cannot  give  them  to  you. 
The  General — Wooster — has  thought  proper  to  send  me  to  the  Congress,  where  I  shall  have  an 
opportunity  of  speaking  of  you  as  you  deserve  Yours,  EDWARD  ANTILL." 

In  1776,  when  Congress  formed  the  2d  Canadian  Regiment  mainly  of 
exiles,  Colonel  Moses  Hazen,  a  British  half-pay  officer  in  easy  circumstances, 
residing  at  St.  Johns,  and  who  had  already  cast  his  fortunes  with  Montgomery, 
and  followed  the  remainder  of  the'  American  forces  over  the  frontier,  was 
chosen  its  Colonel,  and  Edward  Antill  Lieutenant-Colonel.  It  was  even  then  a 


154  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

strong  regiment — seven  hundred  and  twenty  men — but  Congress  appears  to 
have  valued  it  in  ordering  it  to  be  recruited  in  any  of  the  States  to  four  battal 
ions  of  five  companies  each,  with  four  Majors  and  other  officers  in  proportion. 
Sixteen  companies,  however,  appear  to  have  been  the  fullest  complement  of 
what  was  known  as  u  Congress'  Own."  It  had  evacuated  Canada,  under 
General  Sullivan,  and  therefore  continued  in  his  Brigade,  which  served  with 
the  main  army  at  Trenton  and  Princeton,  and  later,  in  protecting  the  lines  at 
Morristown.  On  the  8th  of  January,  1777,  General  Washington  wrote  him 
from  his  headquarters  there  a  letter  suggestive  of  coming  action  : 

"  Call  upon  all  your  officers  who  are  upon  recruiting  service  to  exert  themselves  as  much  as 
possible  in  filling  their  companies  and  sending  their  recruits  forward  to  some  general  place  of 
rendezvous,  that  they  may  be  armed,  equipped  and  got  into  service,  with  as  much  expedition  as 
possible.  As  you  and  Colond  Hazen  had  the  nomination  of  your  own  officers  by  virtue  of  your 
commissions,  I  shall  have  no  objection  to  any  gentleman  of  good  character  whom  you  may  think 
fit  to  appoint." 

On  the  24th  of  February  following,  Richard  Peters,  Secretary  of  War,  urges, 
in  a  letter,  upon  Colonel  Antill,  then  commanding  the  regiment,  the  necessity, 
from  impending  events,  of  promptness  in  hurrying  his  companies  forward  to 
unite  in  meeting  the  enemy. 

In  complying,  the  regiment  was  soon  actively  engaged  under  Sullivan,  and 
when  he  attacked  the  rear  of  Howe's  army  on  Staten  Island — consisting  of 
three  thousand  British  and  loyalists — with  eight  hundred  men,  on  the  226.  of 
June,  after  partial  success  succumbed  to  the  vigorous  resistance,  he  became 
a  prisoner,  thereby  losing  his  opportunity  of  being  present  at  Brandywine, 
Germantown,  and  in  much  important  service  with  his  regiment. 

He  was  not  exchanged  until  November  joth,  1780,  and  only  then  through 
the  influence  of  his  brother,  Major  John  Antill,  who,  differing  in  sentiment, 
adhered  to  the  Crown. 

Rejoining  his  regiment  at  Fishkill,  he  soon  afterwards  assisted  in  beating 
up  the  quarters  of  Colonel  James  de  Lancey  at  Morrisania,  for  which  he  earned 
the  thanks  of  Washington,  in  general  orders. 

In  August  he  marched  to  Philadelphia,  joining  Colonel  Olney's  Rhode 
Islanders,  and  proceeding  by  the  Chesapeake  and  James  River  to  Yorktown 
and  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis. 

Although  he  had  asked  Congress  to  be  relieved  from  service  in  an  earlier 
period  of  inactivity,  he  continued  therein  until  the  disbanding  of  his  regiment 
in  November;  1783. 

Not  found  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll,  he  appears  on  the  Balloting  Book  of  New 
York  in  the  list  of  Canadian  and  Nova  Scotia  refugees,  who  had  united  with 
the  Americans,  to  whom  lands  were  granted  by  the  State  under  the  direction 
of  its  commissioners. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  155 

The  following  letter,  preserved  among  the  Society's  archives,  is  of  in 
terest  : 

"  COLDENHAM,  July    7th,   1783, 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND,  6  o'clock. 

Retired  from  the  din  of  arms  and  a  military  life  clothed  with  laurels,  and  the  thanks  of  a 
most  grate ful  country ,  all  my  pay  and  arrears  of  pay  paid  up  to  this  day  in  solid  gold,  and  a 
pension  of  half  pay  for  Life,  I  now  amuse  myself  with  my  Dog  and  my  Gun.  I  send  the  bearer 
on  a  little  business  to  General  Knox,  and  at  the  same  time  after  enquiring  after  the  health  of 
your  good  little  woman,  in  which  Mrs.  Antill  joins  me,  I  beg  the  favor  of  you  to  fill  my  powder 
horn  with  the  best  powder  you  have.  If  the  U.  S.  insists  upon  it,  I  will  deduct  it  out  of  the 
Guineas  I  received  from  them  when  we  were  disbanded. 

Compliments  to  your  good  Family  and  all  Friends. 
Major  S.  BAUMAN  Yours  Sincerely 

West  Point — per  Express.  EDW^    ANTILL." 

His  wife  resided  in  New  York  during  the  war,  died  there  on  the  3d  of 
September,  1785,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard.  Colonel  Antill 
returned  to  his  old  home  at  St.  Johns,  and  also  died  soon  after.  His  eldest 
daughter,  Nannette,  married  Colonel  Garrit  G.  Lansing,  of  Albany,  and  his 
youngest,  Frances,  became  the  wife  of  Arthur  Tappan,  Esq. 

It  will  be  seen  by  "  Whiting's  Revolutionary  Orders  of  Washington  "  that  his 
useful  life  was  not  free  from  one  of  those  Courts  of  Inquiry  that  attend  such 
men  as  venture  upon  authority,  and  that  after  an  impartial  investigation  he 
was  honorably  acquitted. 

He  subscribed  his  name  to  the  Institution  of  the  Cincinnati  with  the  officers 
of  his  regiment  on  the  Parchment  Roll,  with  Washington  at  its  head,  now  in 
the  possession  of  the  General  Society. 


AARON    AORSON 

Captain  \st  New  York  Regiment. 

Was  appointed  First  Lieutenant  of  the  ist  Regiment  New  York  Continental 
Infantry — Colonel  Alexander  McDougall — on  the  28th  June,  1775,  and  served 
with  his  regiment  in  Canada  and  before  Quebec  until  honorably  discharged  on 
the  1 5th  of  April,  1776.  He  was  with  Captain  Cheeseman  when  that  officer  fell 
with  General  Montgomery  at  the  gate.  On  the  ensuing  26th  of  June  he  was 
appointed  by  Congress  First  Lieutenant  of  the  5th  Regiment — Colonel  Lewis 
Du  Bois. 

The  following  communication,  preserved  in  the  State  Records,  shows  the 
result  of  the  changes  made  by  that  officer  on  his  rapid  advancement  to  com 
mand  : 


156  THE    SOCIETY    OK    THE    CINCINNATI. 

"  GENTLEMEN, 

We  the  Subscribers  do  hereby  resign  the  appointments  we  held  in  the  Regiment  lately 
ordered  to  be  raised  and  Commanded  by  Lewis  Du  Bois  Esq. ,  for  the  following  reasons  : — First, 
We  have  been  ungenerously  superseded,  which  the  old  arrangement  of  officers  made  by  the 
Provincial  Congress  will  fully  show,  for  we  assert  that  the  youngest  Lieutenant  in  the  3d  Regi 
ment  to  which  Mr.  Du  Bois  belonged,  is  appointed  a  Captain  over  the  heads  of  First  Lieutenants 
of 'the  ist  and  other  Regiments.  Likewise  that  Sergeants  and  Corporals,  who  went  out  in  Said 
3d  Regiment,  have  surperseded  officers  who  bore  commissions  in  the  last  campaign.  New  York 
July  8th  1776 


AARON    AORSON  —  Lieut. 
To  the  Honorable,  the  JONATHAN  PEARSE   Lieut. 


RICHARD  PLATT  —  Lieut. 
DANL.  GANG  Lieut. 


Provincial  Congress.  GARRET  H.  VAN  WAGENER." 

On  the  2  ist  of  November,  1776,  Lieutenant  Aorson  was  appointed  Captain 
of  the  Fifth  Company  of  the  3d  Regiment — Colonel  Peter  Gansevoort — on  its 
reorganization  for  the  war.  On  the  28th  of  October,  1776,  Captain  Richard 
Varick  had  recommended  him  on  a  list  with  some  others  of  his  regiment  as 
"esteemed  a  very  good  officer '."  He  was  transferred  to  the  ist  New  York  on  the 
consolidation  of  its  line,  ist  January,  1781,  and  served  as  Brigade-Major  in 
that  year  and  until  peace  was  consummated.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- 
Pay  Roll  with  the  rank  of  Captain. 


JOSIAH    BAGLEY 

Lieutenant    \st  New    York   Regiment. 

Appointed  Ensign  of  Captain  Tiebout's  Company  of  the  3d  New  York  Con 
tinental  Infantry — Colonel  Gansevoort — 2oth  of  December,  1776,  to  rank  from 
2 ist  of  November.  Subsequently  assigned  to  Captain  Jansen's  Company,  and 
appoined  Second  Lieutenant  of  it  on  the  7th  of  January,  1780.  Was  retained  with 
that  rank  in  the  ist  New  York  Continental  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Schaick's — 
on  the  consolidation  of  the  New  York  Line.  Colonel  Gansevoort's  letter  to 
Governor  Clinton,  dated  from  Camp  Orange  Town  the  i6th  of  August,  1780, 
and  published  in  the  State  Records,  displays  his  interest  in  this  young  officer. 
After  expressing  his  opinion  in  another  case,  that  a  promotion  should  only  take 
place  on  a  vacancy,  he  says  : 

"  Should  the  Council  of  appointment  be  influenced  by  our  opinion,  and  adopt  it  as  a  rule  for 
future  promotions,  beginning  with  Mr.  Glenny,  we  should  recommend  it  to  them  to  attend  to 
Mr.  Bagley's  appointment,  who  is  in  the  same  predicament  with  Mr.  Glenny,  and  date  his  pro 
motion  on  the  3ist  day  of  March,  1780,  the  day  of  Mr.  Spoor's  dismission  from  service." 

He  was  honorably  discharged  the  service  on  the  3d  of  November,  1783. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  157 

JOHN    BARD     JR 

Captain  2d  Georgia  Regiment. 

Born  July,  1739.     Died  unmarried  in  December,  1803. 

He  became  an  Associator  for  Independence  in  1775  at  Rhinebeck,  Dutchess 
County.  Was  the  son  of  Peter  Bard,  Commissary- General  of  the  Province  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  Mary  de  Normandie,  and  both  cousin  and  brother-in-law  to 
the  celebrated  Dr.  Samuel  Bard,  whose  father,  Dr.  John  Bard,  had  early 
settled  at  Hyde  Park  on  the  Hudson  River. 

Appointed  Captain  in  the  2d  Regiment  of  the  Georgia  Continental  Infantry 
— Colonel  Samuel  Elbert — in  November,  1776.  He  served  on  the  expedition 
'against  East  Florida  in  May,  1777,  and  at  the  capture  of  Fort  Oglethorpe, 
Frederica,  on  the  rgth  April,  1778.  Was  actively  engaged  in  that  year  in 
the  vicinity  of  Savannah,  participating  in  its  defence  when  attacked  by  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Sir  Archibald  Campbell,  on  the  2pth  December,  1778.  He 
was  taken  prisoner  in  the  action  at  Brier  Creek,  Ga  ,  between  General  John 
Ashe  and  General  Augustine  Prevost,  on  the  3d  of  March,  1779.  Taken  as  a 
prisoner  to  New  York  in  1779,  ne  remained  there  on  parole,  until  exchanged  on 
the  25th  of  October,  1780.  Honorably  discharged  the  service  on  the  ist  of 
January,  1781.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half -Pay  Roll. 


SEBASTIAN    BAUMAN 

Major  New  York  Artillery. 

Born  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  in  Germany,  on  the  6th  of  April,  1739,  and 
died  in  New  York  City  on  the  igth  of  October,  1803.  He  was  educated  as  an 
Engineer  and  Artillerist  in  the  Austrian  service,  becoming  a  strict  disciplinarian. 

It  is  claimed  by  his  family  that  his  father,  residing  in  the  castle  where  Maria 
Theresa  held  her  Court  when  at  Frankfort,  was  associated  with  her  household. 
He  fled  to  America  in  consequence  of  a  duel,  and  said  to  his  mother — a  Spanish 
lady — at  parting  :  "  You  will  hear  from  me,  and  I  will  do  honor  to  my  name  in 
the  new  country  to  which  I  go." 

His  wife,  Ann  Wetzell,  was  the  granddaughter  of  Dr.  Ernest,  of  Manheim, 
a  martyr  of  the  Reformed  religion  at  the  stake.  In  May,  1775,  he  was 
appointed  Captain  of  a  militia  company  in  New  York  known  as  the  "  German 
Fusileers,"  which  volunteered,  on  the  i4th  of  September,  in  a  regiment  of 
Minute  Men,  known  on  the  Continental  establishment  as  the  ist  Regiment  of 


158  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

New  York  Volunteers — Colonel  John  Lasher — of  which,  on  the  2ist,  he  was 
acting  as  Major.  On  the  3oth  of  March,  1776,  he  was  appointed  in  the  perma 
nent  Continental  service  Captain  of  a  company  of  New  York  Artillery,  and 
attached  to  Colonel  Henry  Knox's  Regiment  on  the  i9th  of  April  following. 
He  was,  on  the  ist  of  January,  1777,  transferred  to  the  2d  Regiment  Conti 
nental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's — and  promoted  to  Major  on  the 
i2th  of  September,  1778.  In  i78i-'2  he  was  in  command  of  West  Point,  at 
intervals,  and  selected  by  Washington,  23d  of  December,  1783,  on  the  reduction 
of  the  army,  to  command  the  Battalion  of  Continental  Artillery  retained,  with 
which  he  served  until  honorably  discharged,  2oth  of  June,  1784. 

It  was  during  his  service  at  West  Point  that  he  prepared  the  maps  of  that 
post  for  Washington,  which  Arnold  secured,  and  which  were  discovered  in 
Andre's  boot.  These  passed  from  Governor  Clinton's  possession  to  that  of 
the  State  Library,  where  they  still  remain  in  legible  condition.  He  was  present 
at  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis,  and  again  made  use  of  his  professional  skill  in 
preparing,  for  his  own  use,  a  "  Map  of  Siege  and  Situation  of  Yorktown"  which 
Washington  and  other  officers  requested  him  to  engrave.* 

Was  breveted  Lieutenant-Colonel  on  the  i4th  of  April,  1787.  Appointed  by 
Washington  as  the  first  Federal  Postmaster  of  New  York  City  in  the  preceding 
year,  a  position  which  he  filled  with  credit  until  his  decease.  He  was  also 
Colonel  of  the  State  Regiment  of  Artillery  in  New  York  from  1785  until  it 
assisted  in  depositing  his  body,  wrapped  in  the  American  flag,  in  the  Dutch 
Churchyard  at  the  corner  of  Nassau  and  Liberty  Streets,  which  honored  land 
mark,  in  the  city's  progress,  was  recently  taken  down.  His  name  appears  on 
the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

TJERCK    BEEKMAN 

Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Born  at  Kingston,  3oth  of  December,  1754;  died  there  on  the  25th  of 
December,  1791. 

Was  a  lineal  descendant  of  Wilhelmus  Beekman,  who  emigrated  from  Hol 
land  in  1647,  during  the  administration  of  Governor  Styyvesant,  and  who,  in 
1658,  held  the  position  of  Orphan  Master  to  the  Colony — equivalent  to  Surro 
gate. 

Lieutenant  Beekman  was  the  son  of  Johannes  Beekman  and  Lydia  Van 
Keuren,  and  became  an  Associator  for  Independence  at  Kingston,  Ulster 


*  It  was  inserted,  by  John  Austin  Stevens,  with  other  interesting  details  of  the  victory,  in  the  January,  1880, 
number  of  the  "  Magazine  of  American  History." 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  159 

County,  his  home,  in  June,  1775.  He  served  as  a  Sergeant  in  the  Canada  Cam 
paign  and  before  Quebec  in  the  3d  Regiment,  New  York  Continental  Infantry 
— Colonel  James  Clinton.  Having  been  recommended  by  his  brother  officers 
for  promotion,  in  appreciation  of  his  services,  he  was  appointed  Ensign  in 
Captain  Nicholas  Fish's  second  company  of  the  2d  Regiment,  New  York  Conti 
nental  Infantry — Colonel  Philip  Van  Cortlandt — on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776, 
under  a  commission,  in  the  possession  of  his  family,  dated  28th  of  June,  1779, 
but  taking  effect  from  the  ist  of  September,  1778. 

Was  honorably  discharged  the  service,  on  the  consolidation  of  the  New  York 
Line,  ist  of  January,  1781.     His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

JOHN  BEEKMAN  WESTBROOK,  his  great-grandson,  was  admitted  in 
his  right  in  1879. 


WILLIAM     BELKNAP* 

Lieutenant  in   Colonel  James  Livingston's  Regiment. 

Born  at  Charlestown,  Mass.,  on  the  2 ist  of  February,  1751.  Was  the  eldest 
son  of  William  and  Hannah  Belknap.  Removed  to  Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  at  six 
teen  years  of  age,  where  he  married  Martha  Carscadden  on  the  2oth  of  January, 
1785,  and  died  there  on  the  i8th  of  July,  1831.  He  was  appointed  Lieutenant 
and  Quartermaster  of  the  3d  Regiment,  New  York  Continental  Infantry — 
Colonel  James  Clinton — in  1775,  and  served  in  the  Canada  Campaign.  Was 
transferred  to  Colonel  John  Nicholson's  Regiment,  Continental  Infantry,  before 
Quebec,  i5th  of  April,  1776;  and  on  its  discharge,  ist  of  January,  1777,  was 
appointed  Ensign  of  the  ist  Regiment,  Canadian  Continental  Infantry — Colonel 
James  Livingston — and  promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  on  the  6th  of  May,  1778. 
Upon  the  reduction  and  incorporation  of  his  regiment,  which  was  one  of  the 
sixteen  additional  ones  temporarily  organized,  he  was  honorably  discharged  the 
service  on  the  ist  of  January,  1781.  Was  in  the  attack  on  Quebec  3 ist  of 
December,  1775,  and  subsequently  in  the  battles  of  Stillwater  on  the  igth  of 
September,  of  Saratoga  on  the  7th  of  October,  at  Whitemarsh  from  the  5th  to 
to  the  8th  of  December,  cantoned  at  Valley  Forge  from  i9th  of  December, 
1777,  to  i8th  of  June,  1778,  and  at  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  28th  of  June,  1778. 

*  An  original  document  in  the  possession  of  his  great-grandson  shows  the  original  form  of  creating  a  member 
ship  : 

"  Received  in  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt,  the  8th  day  of  October  1783  of  Lieutenant  William  Belknap,  the  sum 
of  Twenty  six  dollar's  and  two  thirds,  in  a  Note,  number  623,  Signed,  John  Pierce,  Commissioner,  the  said 
Belknap  being  a  member  of  the  Honorable  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  the  above  note  being  a  deposit  of  a 
month's  pay  in  consequence  of  his  being  a  member."  Signed,  P.  CORTLANDT — Treasurer. 


l6o  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

While  a  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  Livingston's  Regiment  he  was  taken  by  the 
enemy  near  New  York  and  sent  on  board  a  ship  in  the  harbor,  but  escaped  by 
jumping  overboard  at  night.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

GEORGE  STEWART  BELKNAP,  his  great-grandson,  was  admitted   in 
1860. 

WALTER  BICKER 

Captain   in    Colonel  Pattorfs   Regiment. 

Died  on  the  6th  of  April,  1821. 

A  resident  of  Pennsylvania,  he  was  appointed  Lieutenant  in  the  3d  Regi 
ment,  Continental  Infantry  of  that  State — Colonel  John  Sheets — 8th  of  January, 
1776,  and  Adjutant  on  the  nth.  On  the  i5th  of  June  following,  his  regiment 
marched  to  New  York,  and  proceeding  to  Kingsbridge,  worked  upon  the 
erection  of  Fort  Washington.  At  the  battle  of  Long  Island  it  had  constantly 
skirmished  with  the  enemy  until  the  final  retreat.  On  the  3ist  they  marched 
beyond  Kingsbridge,  crossed  the  Bronx  River,  and  moved  towards  Long 
Island  Sound  ;  but  in  a  few  days  were  ordered  back  into  garrison  at  Fort 
Washington.  Here,  on  the  i6th  of  November,  the  regiment  was  captured  with 
the  post,  and  he  became  a  prisoner  of  war.  Upon  his  exchange  he  joined 
Colonel  John  Patton's  additional  regiment,  Continental  Infantry,  in  which  he 
had  been  appointed  a  Captain  in  January,  1777.  Under  the  Resolution  of 
Congress,  on  the  i3th  of  January,  1779,  consolidating  his  own  with  Colonel 
Thomas  Hartley's  Regiment,  he  became  supernumerary,  and  was  honorably 
discharged. 

He  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society  to  membership  in  1802. 

NICHOLAS  BICKER,  his  son,  succeeded  him  in  1823. 

HENRY  KIERSTED  BICKER,  his  great-grandson,  was  admitted  in  1884. 

LEONARD     BLEECKER 

Captain  i  st  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  1 2th  of  March,  1844.  He  was  appointed  Second  Lieutenant  of  Captain 
Marinus  Willett's  company  in  the  ist  Regiment  New  York  Continental  Infantry 
— Colonel  Alexander  McDougall — 28th  of  June,  1775.  ^as  present  at  the 
capture  of  St.  Johns  by  General  Montgomery.  Promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  in 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  l6l 

his  regiment  i4th  of  May,  1776.  Served  at  the  battles  of  Long  Island  and 
Princeton,  and  was  specially  recommended  by  Brigadier-General  McDougall 
for  retention  on  the  reorganization  of  the  New  York  Continental  Line  for 
the  war.  He  was  accordingly  assigned  to  the  4th  Regiment  New  York  Con 
tinental  Infantry — Colonel  Henry  B.  Livingston — from  2ist  of  November,  1776. 
With  others,  demurring  at  being  placed  below  juniors  in  rank,  resigned,  but 
was  transferred  to  the  3d  Regiment  New  York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel 
Gansevoort — as  reorganized,  and  on  the  ist  of  January,  1777,  promoted  to  be 
Captain  in  the  same. 

Ordered  to  Fort  Schuyler,  he  participated  in  its  defence  when  invested  by 
St.  Leger.  In  1779  ne  accompanied  a  detachment  under  ColonelNzn  Schack  to 
destroy  the  chief  town  of  the  Onondagas,  which  they  effected  without  the  loss 
of  a  man.  In  September  of  the  same  year  he  was  under  the  command  of 
General  James  Clinton  at  the  battle  of  Newtown,  where  the  Confederacy  of  the 
Five  Nations  was  defeated,  after  a  very  severe  contest.  His  printed  Orderly 
Book  shows  that  he  was  an  observing  as  well  as  an  active  officer.  In  the 
campaign  of  i^So-'Si  he  served  under  Lafayette,  and  in  the  later  year  was 
Brigade-Major  to  General  Hazen's  Brigade  at  the  surrender  of  Yorktown. 
On  the  reduction  of  the  army,  ist  of  January,  1781,  he  was  transferred  to  the 
ist  Regiment,  New  York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Van  Schaick's — com 
manded  the  Light  Infantry  Company,  and  served  as  Inspector  of  that  corps 
until  honorably  discharged  with  his  regiment,  3d  of  November,  1783,  with  the 
rank  of  Major  (by  brevet),  dated  on  the  3oth  of  September  previous. 

An  active  and  energetic  officer,  and  after  devoting  the  best  portion  of  his 
life  to  his  country  in  the  field,  when  peace  ensued  devoted  the  remainder  to 
useful  and  benevolent  duties.  For  many  years  he  was  a  Me?nber  of  the  Cham 
ber  of  Commerce,  Vice-P resident  of  the  New  York  Free  School  during  the 
Presidency  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  and  Treasurer  for  eighteen  years  of  this  Society. 
He  was  of  that  ancient  colonial  Dutch  family,  many  of  whose  descendants 
lived  esteemed  and  respected.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roil. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON  BLEECKER,  his  son,  was  admitted  in  1844. 


JAMES    BRADFORD 

Lieutenant  and  Adjutant  New  York  Artillery. 

Killed  4th  of  November,  1791.  Was  appointed  Muster  Master  to  the 
Artillery  Brigade  xath  of  September,  1778.  Captured,  he  was  paroled  to 
Philadelphia,  where  his  family  resided,  and  to  negotiate  his  own  exchange, 


162  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

which  he  effected  on  the  i4th  of  October,  1779.  Appointed  Second  Lieutenant, 
Captain  Mott's  Company,  2d  Regiment  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel 
Lamb — i2th  of  September,  1779.  When  exchanged  he  joined  his  company 
26th  of  May,  1780,  and  was  promoted  to  be  its  First  Lieutenant  24th  of  June, 
1781,  and  on  the  same  day  confirmed  by  Washington,  in  General  Orders  from 
New  Windsor,  to  be  an  Aide-de-Camp  to  Lord  Stirling  at  Albany,  too  late,  how 
ever,  to  participate  with  him  in  his  gallant  services  on  Long  Island,  at  Brandy- 
wine,  Germantown  or  Monmouth.  Rejoining  his  regiment,  he  was  appointed 
its  Adjutant  on  the  7th  of  June,  1783.  When  the  Continental  Army  was  dis 
banded  a  garrison  was  retained  at  West  Point,  and  pursuant  to  Washington's 
orders,  23d  of  December,  1783,  his  regiment  of  infantry  and  two  companies 
of  artillery  were  continued  in  service  until  after  ist  of  January,  1784.  On  the 
2oth  of  June,  1784,  this  corps  was  disbanded,  except  Captain  John  Doughty's 
company,  now  Battery  F,  4th  Regiment,  U.  S.  Artillery— the  only  original 
company  now  surviving — to  which  Lieutenant  Bradford  was  attached  and 
retained  there  on  duty.  On  the  i2th  of  April,  1785,  this  company  was  recruited 
and  credited  to  New  York's  quota  of  the  troops  then  called  for  by  the  Conti 
nental  Congress  for  frontier  service.  On  the  7th  of  August,  1786,  Lieutenant 
Bradford  was  promoted  to  be  its  Captain,  vice  John  Doughty  created  Major- 
Commandant  of  the  Corps  of  Artillery.  Captain  Bradford  fell,  in  St.  Glair's 
disastrous  defeat  by  the  Miamis  in  Kentucky,  with  a  large  portion  of  his 
command.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 

JACOB  BRADFORD,  his  brother,  was  admitted  to  the  Society  in  his  right 
in   1803. 


CALEB    BREWSTER 

Captain- Lieutenant  New  York   Artillery. 

Died  1 3th  of  February,  1827.  Was  a  resident  of  Brookhaven,  Suffolk 
County,  where  he  became  an  Associator  on  the  8th  of  June,  [775  ;  and  at  a 
meeting  of  the  four  companies  of  that  town — at  Coram/on  the  27th  of  March, 
1776 — he  was  elected  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  company,  so  named  under  the 
State  organization.  On  the  ensuing  2ist  of  November  he  was  appointed  an 
Ensign  in  the  second  company  of  the  4th  Continental — or  regular — Infantry, 
dating  from  the  24th  of  February  1776,  on  the  recommendation  of  its  Colonel 
— Henry  B.  Livingston — with  whom  he  had  served  in  Canada.  Was  appointed 
First  Lieutenant  2d  Regiment  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's — 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  163 

ist  of  January,  1777,  and  promoted  to  be  Captain- Lieutenant*  on  the  230!  of 
June,  1780.  Honorably  discharged  the  service,  with  the  majority  of  his  regi 
ment,  3d  of  November,  1783. 

Having  been  severely    wounded  in  the  service,  he  became  a   Pensioner 
under  the  provisions  of  the  Act  of  Congress,  nth  of  August,  1790. 


JAMES    BREWSTER 

Captain-Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Was  appointed  Second  Lieutenant,  serving  in  Captain  Andrew  Moodie's  com 
pany,  2d  Regiment  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's— ist  of 
January,  1777.  Was  promoted  to  be  First  Lieutenant  8th  of  November,  1778, 
and  Captain  Lieutenant  on  the  8th  of  April,  1782.  Honorably  discharged  the 
service,  with  most  of  his  regiment,  on  the  3d  of  November,  1783.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


DAVID  BROOKS 

Assistant  Clothier  General. 

Born  in  1756.  Died  in  Dutchess  County  on  the  30th  of  August,  1838. 
In  1776  he  was  a  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  John  Shee's  3d  Pennsylvania  Conti 
nental  Infantry,  and  was  captured  at  the  surrender  of  Fort  Washington  on  the 
i6th  of  November,  1776.  Exchanged  in  1778,  he  was  assigned  to  the  3d  Penn 
sylvania  Continental  Infantry — then  Colonel  Thomas  Craig's — and  appointed 
Regimental  Quartermaster  until  appointed  Assistant  Clothier  General  in  the 
Continental  service,  in  which  responsible  post  he  won  Washington's  confidence. 
At  the  close  of  the  war  he  settled  in  Dutchess  County,  and  was  for  six  years  its 
Member  of  the  New  York  Assembly  and  Representative  in  Congress.  In  1797 
he  was  appointed  Commissioner,  making  the  treaty  with  the  Seneca  Indians, 
and  subsequently,  for  sixteen  years,  Chief  -  Justice  of  Dutchess  County,  and  was, 
at  the  time  of  his  decease,  an  Officer  of  Customs.  It  is  recorded  that  Colonel 
Brooks  served  with  merit  throughout  the  war,  respected  and  esteemed  for 
fidelity  and  rigid  devotion  to  its  details  as  well  as  for  the  integrity  of  his  private 
life.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

*  In  the  Act  of  Congress  for  the  establishment  of  the  American  Army,  passed  27th  May.  1778,  it  was  provided, 
"  Each  of  the  Field  Officers  to  Command  a  Company.  The  Lieutenant  of  the  Colonel's  Company  to  have  the 
rank  of  Captain  Lieutenant." 


164  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

JOSEPH  BROWN 

Surgeon    yth    Pennsylvania    Regiment. 

Was  appointed  Surgeon  of  the  i3th  Regiment  Pennsylvania  Continental 
Infantry — Colonel  Walter  Stewart's — in  June,  1777.  Transferred  to  the  7th 
Pennsylvania  Continental  Infantry—  Colonel  William  Irvine's — ist  of  July,  1778. 
On  the  incorporation  of  his  former  regiment  with  the  2d  Regiment,  under  a 
resolution  of  the  Executive  Council,  3d  of  April,  1778,  he  became  a  super 
numerary  by  juniority,  and  was  honorably  retired  on  the  ist  of  January,  1781. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 

He  was  admitted  to  membership  by  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cin 
cinnati  in  1803. 


ROBERT    BURNET    JR 

Lieutenant  of  New  York  Artillery. 

Born  22d  of  February,  1762  ;   died  2gth  of  November,  1854. 

He  was  the  son  of  James  Burnet  and  grandson  of  Robert  Burnet,  the  first  of 
the  name  who  settled  in  Little  Britain.  Was  appointed  Lieutenant  2d  Regiment 
Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's — 28th  of  June,  1781,  and  was 
assigned  to  Captain  William  Steven's  company  by  Regimental  Orders,  dated  at 
West  Point  on  the  29th  of  June.  Honorably  discharged,  with  a  portion  of  his 
regiment,  on  the  ist  of  January,  1784.  Served  at  the  siege  of  Yorktcwn,  and 
was  subsequently  in  the  cantonments  on  the  Hudson  and  at  West  Point  until 
the  close  of  the  war. 

He  married  Rachel,  the  daughter  of  Jacob  R.  De  Witt,  on  the  pth  of  June, 
1784.  His  children  were  Alexander  Clinton,  Charles,  Jane,  Moses  De  Witt, 
Mary  De  Witt,  and  Robert  who  died  young. 

He  was  the  last  surviving  original  member  of  the  New^York  State  Society, 
dying  at  Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  near  the  place  of  the  "  Cincinnati's  "  birth. 

ROBERT  BURNET,  his  grandson,  and  eldest  son  of  the  eldest  son  Alex 
ander  Clinton  Burnet,  was  admitted  in  1886. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  165 

AARON  BURR 

Lieutenant-Colonel  of  Malcoms  Regiment. 

Born  on  the  6th  of  February,  1756,  at  Newark,  N.  J.,  in  the  parsonage  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church.  Died  on  the  i4th  of  September,  1836,  on  Staten 
Island. 

He  was  the  son  of  the  Reverend  Aaron  Burr,  the  founder  and  first  President 
of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  from  which  he  graduated  with  honors  in  1772, 
and  in  1803  the  degree  of  LL.D.  was  also  conferred  on  him. 

He  entered  the  Continental  Army  in  July,  1775,  as  a  volunteer,  and  was 
stationed  for  a  short  time  at  Winter's  Hill,  and  at  Cambridge,  near  Boston, 
forming  one  of  that  illustrious  band  who  were  the  first  to  resist  the  oppressions 
of  England,  and  to  assert  by  force  of  arms  the  right  of  the  American  Colonies 
to  be  represented  in  the  British  Parliament,  or  to  be  exempt  from  taxes  imposed 
by  their  authority.  In  the  same  year  he  joined  Arnold  as  a  volunteer,  and 
marched  with  his  detachment  from  Newburyport  through  the  Wilderness  to 
Quebec.  In  the  assault  on  the  3ist  of  December,  1775,  he  was  an  Aide-de- 
Camp  to  General  Montgomery  when  he  fell  mortally  wounded. 

Major  Richard  Platt,  an  eye-witness  of  the  scene,  testified  that 
"  Burr  animated  the  troops,  and  made  many  efforts  to  lead  them  on,  and  stimulated  them  to 
enter  the  lower  town." 

While  the  Reverend  Samuel  Spring,  Chaplain  in  Arnold's  expedition, 
describes 

"  Little  Burr  hastening  from  the  fire  of  the  enemy  up  to  his  knees  in  snow,  with  Mont 
gomery's  body  on  his  shoulder." 

General  Cullum  has  recently  claimed,  in  his  interesting  sketch  of  that  officer, 
that  Burr  was,  at  the  time  he  fell,  with  Arnold  in  his  attack  on  the  other  side 
of  the  city,  a  conclusion  which  Lossing  sustains. 

Irving,  in  his  "  Life  of  Washington,"  gives  the  following  : 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  fifth  day  Montgomery  paid  a  visit  to  the  Ice  Battery.  The  heavy 
artillery  from  the  walls  had  repaid  its  effectual  fire  with  ample  usury  ;  the  brittle  ramparts  had 
been  shivered  like  glass,  and  several  of  the  guns  had  been  rendered  useless.  Just  as  the  General 
arrived  a  shot  from  the  Fortress  dismounted  one  of  the  guns  and  disabled  many  men.  A  second 
immediately  following  was  also  as  destructive. 

"  '  This  is  warm  \voik,  sir,'  said  Montgomery  to  Captain  Lamb. 

"  '  It  is,  indeed,  and  no  place  for  you,  sir.' 

"  '  Why  so,  Captain  !' 

"  '  Because  there  are  enough  of  us  here  to  be  killed  without  the  loss  of  you,  -which  -would  be 
irreparable. ' 


l66  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

"  The  General  saw  the  insufficiency  of  the  battery,  and  on  returning  gave  Lamb  permission 
to  leave  it  whenever  he  thought  proper.  The  veteran  waited  until  after  dark,  when,  securing  all 
the  guns,  he  abandoned  the  ruined  redoubt. 

"  The  General  on  his  visit  was  attended  by  Aaron  Burr,  whom  he  had  appointed  as  his  Aide- 
de-Camp.  Lamb  wondered  that,  he  should  encumber  himself  with  such  a  boy.  The  perfect 
coolness  and  self-possession  with  which  the  youth  mingled  in  this  dangerous  scene,  and  the  fire 
which  sparkled  in  his  eye,  soon  convinced  Lamb,  according  to  his  own  account,  that  '  that  young 
volunteer  ivas  no  ordinary  man.'  " 

After  the  repulse  of  the  Americans  he  remained  with  Arnold  as  his  Brigade- 
Major  until  joining  the  main  army  at  Morristown,  N.  J.,  in  May,  1776.  A 
short  time  afterward  he  became  attached  to  the  staff  of  General  Putnam  as  an 
Aide-de-Camp,  and  was  with  him  in  the  battle  of  Long  Island,  and  the  subse 
quent  retreat. 

Stone  says  in  his  article,  "  The  Language  of  Flowers  "  : 

"  When  the  beautiful  and  accomplished  daughter  of  Major  Moncrieffe,  of  the  British  Corps 
of  Engineers,  was  captured  and  taken  into  the  family  of  General  Putnam,  then  commanding 
at  West  Point,  Burr,  who  was  his  Aide  and  at  the  same  time  her  admirer,  detected  her  painting 
and  grouping  flowers  into  the  positions  of  the  different  batteries  of  that  Fortress,  to  be  finally 
presented  to  the  experienced  eye  of  her  father  upon  her  release. " 

Appointed  in  July,  1777,  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  Malcom's  Regiment — one  of 
of  the  sixteen  raised  by  Congress  for  the  war — and  which  he  commanded  for 
nearly  two  years  in  the  absence  of  its  Colonel.  He  commanded  a  Brigade 
in  Lord  Stirling's  Division,  of  which  his  regiment  formed  a  part,  in  the  battle 
of  Monmouth. 

He  was,  during  the  Winter  of  1778-9,  stationed  in  Westchester  County, 
N.  Y.,  where  he  was  eminently  successful  in  checking  the  depredations  com 
mitted  by  the  British  Light  Horse,  under  Colonel  De  Lancey.  For  a  short  time 
he  was  in  command  of  West  Point,  and  on  the  roth  of  March,  1779,  resigned 
his  commission  in  the  Army  on  account  of  ill  health . 

In  April,  1782,  he  began  to  practice  law  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  but  in  1783  went 
to  New  York  City,  where  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  New  York  Legisla 
ture  in  1784  and  1798.  Appointed  Attorney-General  of  New  York  State  27th 
of  September,  1789. 

He  was  appointed  1781  a  Commissioner  of  Revolutionary  Claims  ;  a 
member  of  the  United  States  Senate  from  New  York  in  1791  and  until 
1798. 

The  Electoral  College,  in  1801,  cast  for  Jefferson  and  Burr  each  seventy- 
three  votes,  and  was  then  referred  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  where,  on 
the  thirty-sixth  ballot,  the  choice  for  President  fell  to  Jefferson  and  Burr  was 
declared  Vice-P resident. 

In  1 80 1  he  was  President  of  the  Convention  which  revised  the  Constitution 
of  the  State  of  New  York. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  167 

His  duel  with  Hamilton,  on  the  nth  of  July,  1804,  caused  him  to  leave 
New  York  and  travel  throughout  the  South,  until  the  opening  of  Congress, 
when  he  resumed  his  seat  as  President  of  the  Senate. 

The  next  feature  in  his  life,  for  which  he  was  arrested  on  the  charge  of 
treason,  was  known  as  "Burrs  Conspiracy."  The  trial  took  place  at  Richmond, 
Va.,  in  August,  1807,  where  Washington  Irving  saw  him,  and  said  : 

''  He  seemed  in  lower  spirits  than  formerly,  but  was  composed  and  collected  as  usual." 

Mr.  Jay  has  recently  told  us  how  the  opening  of  the  French  Archives  by 
the  officers  of  the  Republic  has  developed  the  intrigues  of  their  predecessors, 
and  shown  how  General  Wilkinson,  being  then  Governor  of  the  Territory  of 
Louisiana  and  in  the  American  service,  sometimes  opposing  Burr  and  at  others, 
as  it  is  claimed,  operating  wifh  him,  was  in  fact  in  the  pay  of  France  to  foster 
a  common  scheme,  from  which  he  adroitly  withdrew,  and  left  his  old  com- 
panions-in-arms  to  bear  the  entire  reproach. 

After  his  acquittal  Burr  went  to  Europe  in  1808,  living  in  extreme  proverty 
in  London  and  Paris.  Returning  in  1812,  just  before  the  declaration  of  war 
with  Great  Britain,  he  resumed  the  profession  of  the  law  in  the  City  of  New 
York.  His  chief  support,  however,  being  derived  from  a  pension  as  Colonel  in 
the  Revolutionary  Army.  He  passed  the  last  days  of  his  life  among  his  numer 
ous  and  influential  friends  and  relatives,  who  treated  him  with  great  kindness, 
especially  his  cousin,  Jttdge  Ogden  Edwards,  at  whose  house  on  Staten  Island 
he  made  his  home  until  he  died  in  his  eighty-first  year. 

His  first  wife  was  Theodosia  Bartow,  the  widow  of  General  Augustine 
Prevost — who  died  5th  of  May,  1786 — by  whom  his  only  surviving  child  was 
his  daughter  Theodosia,  the  wife  of  Joseph  Allston,  Governor  of  South  Caro 
lina.  She  had  but  one  child,  a  son,  Aaron  Burr  Allston,  who  died  at  an  early 
age.  His  letters  to  her,  to  whom  he  was  devoted  and  had  educated  as  a  confi 
dant  to  fill  the  place  of  a  son,  disclose  what  no  other  eye  was  intended  to 
discern — his  disappointments  and  failures  in  life,  which  he  was  too  proud  to 
vindicate  publicly.  The  sad  fate  of  his  daughter,  whom  he  survived  twenty 
years,  is  well  known  by  the  confession  of  the  pirate  Gibbs. 

His  subsequent  marriage  with  Madame  Jumel,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight, 
doubtless  to  recruit  his  fortune,  and  his  failure  to  control  her  possessions,  as  he 
had  probably  anticipated,  caused  their  early  separation  and  his  speedy  decease. 

His  remains  were  buried  at  Princeton  ,by  the  side  of  his  parents,  and  his 
funeral  honored  with  military  ceremonies.  Some  years  afterward  his  relatives 
erected  a  suitable  granite  headstone  at  his  grave. 

Through  all  his  life  there  glimmered  a  trait  of  character  rising  above  the 
common  estimate,  which,  in  a  career  of  consistent  integrity  and  purity,  would, 
like  his  generosity  to  his  dependents,  have  aided  in  illuminating  his  memory. 


l68  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

His  memoirs  have  been  published  by  M.  L.  Uavis  in  1836  and  by  James 
Parton  in  1857.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll* 

JONATHAN  BURRALL 

i 

Deputy  Pay  master- General. 

Born  in  1753.     Died  at  Goshen,  N.  Y.,  i8th  of  November,  1834. 

He  joined  the  army  under  Major-General  Philip  Schuyler  in  1776  in  the 
Northern  Department.  Appointed  Assistant  Paymaster  in  1777. 

Promoted  to  be  Deputy  Paymaster-General  in  1782.  Was  honorably  dis 
charged  the  service  ist  of  January,  1784. 

After  the  war  Congress  appointed  him  the  Commissioner  for  settling  the 
accounts  of  the  Quartermaster  and  Commissary  Departments  on  the  8th  of 
May,  1786. 

Subsequently  he  was  appointed  Assistant  Postmaster-General,  and  after 
wards  the  Cashier  of  the  United  States  Branch  Bank  of  New  York.  Prior  to 
his  death  he  was  chosen  President  of  the  Bank  of  America  in  New  York  City. 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  late  Connecticut  State  Society  of  the 
Cincinnati,  but  associated  with  the  New  York  in  1793.  His  name  appears  on 
the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

WICKHAM  HOFFMAN,  his  grandson,  was  admitted  in  his  right  in  1857. 
He  was  in  1881,  appointed  Secretary  of  Legation  at  St.  Petersburg,  Russia. 


*  Colonel  Burr,  in  1781,  when  his  friend,  Major  Alden,  realizing  the  temporary  embarrassment 
of  his  circumstances  and  the  necessity  of  a  future  profession  upon  leaving  the  service,  wrote  him 
from  Raritan  on  the  i$th  of  February  : 

"  If  it  will  solace  your  woes  to  know  there  is  a  heart  that  feels  them  as  its  own,  that  heart  is  mine.  *  *  *  I 
know  their  force.  I  have  felt  them  in  all  their  pungency.  A  want  of  uniformity,  in  the  mode  and  object  of  my 
pursuits,  has  been  long  my  misfortune,  and  has  I  fear  been  yours.  There  is  a  persevering  firmness  that  will 
conquer  embarrassment,  and  aided  with  the  secret  smile  of  an  approving,  conscience,  cannot  fail  to  put  us  above  the 
power  of  adversity.  Thus  '  we  shali  shun  misfortunes  or  shall  learn  to  bear  them.'  I  have  found  the  moment  of 
indecision  to  be  the  moment  of  completest  anguish.  When  our  resolutions  are  taken  with  determined  firmness, 
they  engross  the  mind,  and  close  the  void  of  misery.  *  *  *  These  are  my  halcyon  days.  Let  us  taste  them 
together.  We  shall  mutually  heighten  their  relish.  Let  us  rescue  some  moments  of  rational  enjoyment  from  the 
wreck  of  impetuous  time.  Friendship  shall  smooth  the  rugged  path  of  science,  and  virtue  cheer  the  way. 

"  If  law  is  your  object,  this  situation  is  favorable  to  the  pursuit.  You  shall  have  access  to  the  library  and 
office,  without  the  customary  expense.  Your  ostensible  reason  for  coming  here,  shall  be  to  pursue  your  studies 
with  me,  under  my  friend  Mr.  Patterson.  The  two  boys  I  wish  you  to  instruct,  a^e  of  the  sweetest  tempers  and  the 
softest  hearts.  A  frown  is  the  severest  punishment  they  ever  need.  Four  hours  a  day,  will  I  think  be  sufficient  for 
their  instruction.  There  are  hours  enough  left  for  study — as  many  as  any  one  can  improve  to  advantage  ;  and 
these  four  will  be  fully  made  up  to  you  by  the  assistance  you  will  derive  from  such  of  us  as  have  already  made  some 
small  progress. 

"  If  it  is  possible  we  live  together.  At  any  rate  you  shall  live  near  me  ;  we  shall  at  least  meet  every  day,  or 
oftener  if  we  please.  Nothing  will  interrupt  us.  We  will  regulate  our  own  amusements  and  .pursuits.  Here  are 
no  expensive  diversions  of  any  kind.  Your  salary  shall  be  a  general  inaintainance  in  such  a  situation.  You  shall 
have  sixty  pounds  New  York  currency,  which  is  more  than  I  expend  here.  You  will  find  it  impossible  to  spend  a 
farthing  except  board  and  clothing.  If  from  this  short  sketch,  you  think  the  situation  adapted  to  your  views,  of 
which  I  feel  a  pleasing  assurance,  acquaint  me  immediately  that  I  may  prepare  for  your  reception.  *  *  *  How 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  169 

• 

DUNCAN    CAMPBELL 

Lieutenant  in  Colonel  James  Livingston  s  Canadian  Continental  Infatitry. 

Died  in  March,  1807. 

Appointed,  in  1775,  a  Lieutenant  in  the  ist  Regiment  of  Canadian  Conti 
nental  Infantry — Colonel  James  Livingston's.  It  was,  as  well  as  the  26.  Regi 
ment—  Colonel  Moses  Hazen's — recruited  largely  from  residents  or  refugees 
from  New  York,  then  found  in  Canada.  He  resigned  in  1779.  His  later 
years  were  clouded  by  misfortune,  he  and  his  wife  becoming  subjects  for  the 
Society's  benevolent  provision.  He  left  no  issue. 

JOHN    CAPE 

Lieutenant  ist  New  Jersey  Regiment. 

He  was  from  the  loth  of  January,  1776,  a  Lieutenant  in  Captain  Matthew 
Freeman's  Company  of  the  ist  Regiment  of  Minute  Men,  Militia  Infantry,  of 
Middlesex  County,  N.  J. — Colonel  Nathaniel  Heard 's — until  the  4th  of  June, 

could  I  write  to  you  ?  How  divine  your  residence  ?  Never  again  harbor  for  a  moment  a  surmise  that  derogates 
from  my  sincerity.  My  health  is  nearly  established.  I  have  not  enough  to  despise  the  blessing,  but  enough  to  relish 
every  enjoyment  of  life.  Adieu,  my  friend,  may  that  cheerfulness  of  which  you  have  been  robbed  return,  and 
be  as  permanent  as  your  merit  or  my  affection." 

To  this  Major  Alden  replied  from  Fairfield,  28th  of  February,  1781  : 

"  Your  letter  of  the  i5th  pleases  me.  You  have  a  heart  that  feels  ;  a  heart  susceptible  to  tender  friendship. 
Life  has  not  a  single  charm  to  compare  with  such  sensations.  You  know  too  well  how  to  excite  such  emotions. 
Happy  for  us.  These  expel  the  keenest  pangs.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  real  happiness.  At  best  it  is  but  a 
delusion.  We  make  our  own  pleasures  as  we  do  our  troubles.  Friendship  will  heighten  the  one  and  moderate  the 
other. 

"  I  have  been  tortured  with  the  anxiety  of  suspense.  It  has  given  me  the  most  poignant  distress.  It 
disordered  my  mind  ;  at  times  almost  drove  me  to  despair.  Some  of  my  friends  saw  the  effect  but  could  not  conjec 
ture  the  cause.  You  alone  could  penetrate  the  feelings  of  my  heart ;  you  alone  are  in  possession  of  that  evidence 
which  will  convict  me  of  my  weakness  ;  of  my  want  of  fortitude.  I  dare  entrust  you.  I  feel  the  influence  of  your 
friendship.  To  a  heart  like  yours,  this  will  prove  the  sincerity  and  affection  of  mine. 

"  I  bid  adieu  to  camp,  having  completed  my  business,  with  the  thanks  of  our  worthy  Commander-in-Chief 
icr  his  attention  to  my  character.  The  discharge  he  gave  me  equalled  my  wiehes  and  exceeded  my  expectations. 
I  have  enjoyed  the  most  rational  satisfaction  for  three  days  past.  I  have  commenced  student.  Dr.  Johnson  has 
given  me  my  plan  of  studies,  and  free  access  to  his  library.  My  ambition  is  not  great,  nor  my  views  unbounded.  I 
shall  proportion  the  means  to  the  object.  If  I  persevere  with  attention,  I  have  something  more  than  wishes  to 
build  upon.  Nothing  within  the  compass  of  my  ambition,  that  is  justifiable,  will  be  left  untried,  to  gratify  my 
reasonable  desires.  I  know  that  your  request  proceeded  entirely  from  your  friendship  for  me,  and  that  you  felt 
happy  that  it  was  in  your  power  to  oblige  me.  I  feel  the  force  of  your  kindness,  but  must  deny  myself  the  pleasure 
of  spending  some  months  with  my  friend.  My  time  is  short  ;  age  presses  upon  me.  Four  years  have  been  devoted 
to  my  country,  for  which  I  have  received  no  compensation.  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  hear  that  your  health  is  such 
that  you  can  be  thankful  for  the  blessing,  and  are  in  a  situation  to  enjoy  yourself  in  your  studies.  My  heart  is  sin 
cerely  interested  in  your  happiness.  Let  me  know  your  feelings  that  I  may  know  how  to  refine  mine.  _  Your  friend 
ship  and  letters  add  a  continual  charm  to  my  life  and  will  always  please  the  heart  and  secure  the  affection  of 

"  Yours  with  sincerity,  R.  ALDEN." 


I7O  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

1776.  Under  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  that  State,  27th  of  November, 
1776,  raising  four  regiments  of  volunteers  for  United  States  service,  he  was 
incorporated  with  Freeman's  Company,  in  Colonel  Charles  Read's  Regiment, 
New  Jersey  State  Infantry. 

Honorably  mustered  out  by  expiration  of  its  service  ist  of  April,  1777. 
Under  subsequent  acts  of  that  Assembly,  he  served  again  as  a  Lieutenant  in 
Colonel  Asher  Holmes'  Regiment  of  Infantry,  from  the  pth  of  October  to  the 
2oth  of  December,  1779,  and  from  the  7th  of  June,  1780,  until  he  resigned, 
after  three  and  one-half  years'  service  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay 
Roll  as  Lieutenant  in  New  Jersey. 


NEHEMIAH  CARPENTER 

Ensign  2.d  New  York  Regiment. 

He  was  an  Associate*/-  for  Independence,  signing  at  Newburgh,  Orange 
County,  on  the  6th  of  July,  1775,  and  named  in  the  Report  of  the  Enlisting 
Committee  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  now  filed  among  the  State  archives,  the 
following  being  a  portion  of  it  : 

"  We  lament  gentlemen,  that  it  is  our  unhappiness  that  there  is  such  a  number  not  signing 
who  are  the  most  daring  presumptuous  villians,  often  threatening  life  property  and  individuals, 
damning  Congress  and  Committees,  declaring  they  will  join  our  enemies  if  opportunity  presents, 
and  by  the  general  spirit  they  discover,  we  consider  ourselves  exposed  to  their  bloody  principles, 
unless  some  method  can  be  fallen  upon  for  preventing  them  in  carrying  into  execution  their 
wicked  designs,  which  we  submit  to  your  wisdom,  conceiving  ourselves  safe  under  your  wise  pro 
tection." 

Appointed  5th  of  January,  1776,  Quartermaster  of  Colonel  Isaac  Nichols' 
Regiment  of  Minute  Men,  organized  at  Goshen.  In  the  Committee  of  Arrange 
ments,  1 8th  of  December  preceding,  General  James  Clinton  recommends 
him,  as  the  Quartermaster  of  his  late  regiment,  the  2d  New  York  Continental 
Infantry — to  which  Carpenter  had  been  transferred  -  to  be  on  the  reorganiza 
tion  appointed  in  a  new  regiment  in  place  of  the  one  named,  saying  :  "  He  will 
accept,  and  in  his  opinion  is  much  better  qualified."  The  Line  having  been 
reduced  by  the  resignation  of  many  valuable  officers  who  refused  to  be  super 
seded,  he  was  consequently  transferred,  with  the  same  rank,  dating  from  the 
2ist  of  November,  1776,  to  the  5th  Regiment  of  New  York  Continental  Infantry 
—  Colonel  Lewis  Du  Bois. 

He  was  in  the  assault  on  Fort  Montgomery  on  the  6th  of  October,  1777,  and 
having  been  captured,  was  not  exchanged  until  the  25th  of  October,  1780,  when 
he  was  appointed  Ensign  on  the  2d  New  York  Regiment.  On  the  ist  of  Jan 
uary,  1781,  he  was  transferred,  on  the  consolidation  of  the  New  York  Line,  to 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


the   2d  New  York  Regiment  —  Colonel  Van  Cortlandt  —  with  which  he  served 
until  placed  on  waiting  orders,  June,  1783. 

Honorably  discharged  with  his  regiment  on  the  3d  of  November  following. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll  with  the  rank  of  Lieutenant. 


JAMES  CHRYSTIE 

Captain    $d    Pennsylvania    Regiment. 

Born  1 3th  of  January,  1750.     Died  in  June,  1807. 

He  was  the  eldest  son  of  John  Chrystie  and  Janet  Clarkson,  his  wife,  and 
born  at  Hales'  Quarry,  near  Edinburgh,  Scotland.  After  completing  his 
studies  he  came  to  America,  landing  at  Philadelphia  early  in  the  year  1775. 

There  he  enlisted  in  the  Pennsylvania  Regiment  under  his  friend  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Thomas  Craig,  and  with  it,  under  Morgan,  followed  Arnold  in  his 
expedition  through  the  northern  wilderness  to  join  Montgomery. 

Appointed  First  Lieutenant  in  the  2d  Regiment  Pennsylvania  Continental 
Infantry — Colonel  Arthur  St.  Clair — on  the  5th  of  January,  1776,  and  promoted 
to  Captain  in  the  same  on  the  tith  of  November,  1776 — while  under  Wayne  at 
Ticonderoga — to  rank  from  the  gth  of  August,  1776.  This  regiment,  after 
July  of  that  year,  being  designated  as  the  3d  Regiment  Pennsylvania  Conti 
nental  Infantry — Colonel  Thomas  Craig. 

He  was  transferred  on  the  ist  of  January,  1783,  to  the  2d  Regiment  Penn 
sylvania  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Richard  Hampton — on  the  consolidation 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Line. 

He  was  appointed  Major,  by  brevet,  in  the  United  States  Army  on  the  3oth 
of  September,  1783,  and  honorably  discharged  with  his  regiment,  being  then  its 
senior  Captain^  on  the  3d  of  November,  1783. 

On  the  detection  of  Arnold's  plot  at  West  Point,  Washington  sent  for  Chrystie,  and  told  him 
he  had  selected  him  for  the  speedy  performance  of  the  very  important  service  of  proceeding 
with  all  possible  expedition  to  West  Point,  examining  the  state  of  that  garrison  in  every  respect, 
and  visiting  all  the  intermediate  posts  for  the  same  purpose,  making  his  business  known  only  to 
their  commanding  officers,  enjoining  their  entire  secrecy,  and  committing  nothing^ to  writing. 
Here  Washington  paused,  when  Chrystie  inquired  if  he  had  any  further  orders.  He  replied, 
"  Yes,  one,  and  a  very  serious  one  ;  that  is,  Captain  Chrystie,  that  you  are  not  to  let  me  hear  of 
your  being  taken  prisoner — do  you  understand  me  ?"  "  Perfectly  well,  sir.  You  shall  not  hear 
of  that  event,"  replied  the  Captain  ;  and  conscious  of  the  trust,  mounted  and  set  out  at  once,  and 
accomplished  it  in  so  short  a  time  that  Washington,  in  returning  to  headquarters,  supposed  he 
had  been  interrupted  ;  but  his  report  in  detail  soon  relieved  his  anxious  mind. 

He  married  Mary,  the  daughter  of  the  Reverend  John  Albert  Wygandt  in 
1781.  After  the  declaration  of  peace,  with  Lietitenant  Abijah  Hammond,  he 
established  a  real  estate  business  in  New"  York  City,  but  from  which  he  shortly 


1^2  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

withdrew,  joining  Wayne's  Expedition  against  the  Indians,  and  served  in  the 
campaign  and  in  the  battle  of  the  River  Miami  on  the  2oth  of  August,  1794. 
Subsequently  he  established  himself  in  the  china  ware  business  at  33  Maiden 
Lane.  He  was  elected  Vice-President  of  the  St.  Andrew's  Society.  Before  his 
death  he  revisited  his  mother  in  Scotland,  with  his  eldest  son  Thomas,  leaving 
him  with  her  to  be  educated. 

Dying  in  New  York,  he  was  interred  in  a  vault  in  the  Wall  Street  Presby 
terian  Church  with  military  honors.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll.* 

THOMAS  CHRYSTIE  (Major},  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  his  right 
in  1807.  He  died  unmarried  on  the  1 8th  of  October,  1815. 

JAMES  CHRYSTIE  (Rev.),  his  second  son,  was  admitted  in  1819.  He 
died  November,  1863,  without  having  subscribed  his  name  to  the  Roll. 

THOMAS  WITTER  CHRYSTIE,  the  eldest  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted 
in  1867,  and  served  for  many  years  on  the  Standing  Committee  and  as  a  dele 
gate  to  the  triennal  meetings  of  this  Society. 

*  The  following  article  was  published  in  the  New  York  Times,  I2th  of  July,  1879,  under  the 
"  Story  of  Stony  Point,"  as 

CAPTAIN  CHRYSTIE'S  TASK. 

Every  day  is  now  bringing  nearer  the  centennial  celebration  of  the  capture  of  Stony  Point. 
The  hour-hand  of  the  clock  will  soon  again  point  to  "  2  o'clock  A.  M.,  i6th  of  July,"  when,  100 
years  before,  General  Wayne  stood  within  the  bravely  won  fortress  and  wrote  to  General  Wash 
ington  these  words  : 

"The  fort  and  garrison  with  Colonel  Johnson  are  ours.  Our  officers  and  men  behaved  like  men  who  are 
determined  to  be  free." 

It  is  difficult  at  this  day  to  appreciate  fully  the  value  of  the  achievement,  but  without  doubt 
as  its  centennial  draws  nigh  the  public  interest  increases,  and  an  account  of  some  of  the  prelimi 
nary  and  more  secret,  but  not  the  less  important,  movements,  which  ended  in  securing  this 
brilliant  victory  to  our  troops,  made  as  they  were  under  private  and  confidential  instructions  and 
military  orders  from  Washington,  Hamilton  and  Wayne,  becomes  specially  interesting  as  showing 
the  masterly  skill  and  military  preparation  with  which  this  famous  attack  was  planned,  and  also 
in  bringing  to  light  persons  and  events  which  so  far  seem  to  have  escaped  the  historians  of  the 
times.  These  documents  are  perfectly  authentic,  having  been  among  the  private  papers  of  their 
recipient  at  the  time  of  his  decease,  are  now  in  the  possession  of  his  descendants,  and  have  never 
before  been  published. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  when  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  on  the  jst  of  June,  1779,  accom 
plished  the  capture  by  the  British  troops  of  Vetplanck  and  Stony  Points,  that  event,  equally 
unexpected  and  startling,  carried  no  small  alarm  and  anxiety  to  our  Commander-in-Chief.  Says 
Lossing  :  "  The  loss  of  these  forts  was  greatly  lamented  by  Washington."  Not  only  Wrest  Point 
but  all  the  adjacent  posts  and  garrisons  in  the  Highlands  were  suddenly  in  jeopardy,  and  separated 
as  they  were  from  each  other  by  almost  impassable  roads,  through  a  country  abounding  in 
swamps,  crags  and  precipices,  unless  immediately  put  on  their  guard,  might  very  easily  be 
captured  in  detail  by  their  bold  and  vigorous  foe.  And  so  it  happened  that  to  watch  the  enemy 
in  his  new  acquisition — to  ascertain  by  actual  inspection  his  strength,  the  nature  and  shape  of  his 
works  at  Stony  Point,  to  learn  as  far  as  possible  his  plans  and  intentions,  and,  above  all,  to  give 


MATTHEW    CLARK S  ON  . 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  173 

MATTHEW  CLARKSON 

Major  and  Aidc-de-Camp. 

The  following  sketch  furnished  by  Mr.  Clarkson. 

Born  in  New  York  i7th  of  October,  1758.     Died  25th  of  April,  1825. 

His  father  and  grandfather  both  held  responsible  public  positions  with 
approved  fidelity  and  ability.  His  great-grandfather,  Matthew  Clarkson,  was 
for  thirteen  years  Secretary  of  the  Province,  in  which  he  arrived  so  commis- 


notice  at  once  to  our  posts  in  the  thickets  and  fastnesses  of  the  Highlands — became  an  object  of 
paramount  importance.  Requiring  as  it  did  no  small  amount  of  coolness  and  sagacity,  coupled 
with  military  skill  and  experience,  any  trustworthy  officer  possessing  those  qualifications  suddenly 
became  much  in  request  at  the  headquarters  of  the  Commander-in-Chief,  which  at  this  time  were 
at  or  near  Smith's  Clove,  in  the  rear  of  Haverstraw. 

It  did  not  take  long  to  find  such  a  one  in  the  command  of  Wayne,  then  in  the  Highlands. 
Captain  James  Chrystie,  of  the  3d  Regiment,  Pennsylvania  Line,  had,  early  in  1775,  become  a 
Lieutenant  in  that  regiment,  and  almost  immediately  joined  the  detachment  of  Pennsylvanians 
and  Virginians  who,  under  Daniel  Morgan,  followed  Arnold  in  his  wintry  expedition  from  Cam 
bridge,  up  the  Kennebec  River,  to  join  in  General  Montgomery's  attack  on  Quebec.  With 
Arnold,  Morgan  and  Lamb  he  had  climbed,  on  the  memorable  night  of  December  3ist,  1775,  the 
frozen  ramparts  of  that  city,  and  stood  with  them  in  its  streets  only  to  learn  that  Montgomery 
had  just  a  moment  before  gloriously  met  a  soldier's  death.  He  had  taken  part  in  the  movements 
of  our  troops  at  Isle  aux  Noix,  the  Sorel  and  St.  John,  and  had  won  his  Captaincy  at  Ticonderoga. 
Under  Wayne's  eye  he  had  fought  at  Brandywine,  Germantown  and  Monmouth  ;  had  been  with 
him  in  the  dark  and  bloody  night  of  Paoli,  and  with  him  had  passed  through  that  Winter  that 
tried  men's  souls  at  Valley  Forge.  Quiet  and  unobtrusive,  yet  thorough  when  on  routine  duty, 
he  had  always  proved  himself  in  time  of  action  a  brave,  vigorous,  faithful  and  sagacious  Captain, 
and  had  ever  shown  himself  equal  to  any  emergency  that  the  warfare  of  the  times  put  in  his  way. 
And  now  his  General,  who  had  seen  and  known  him  ' '  often  tried  "  and  never  found  wanting, 
well  knew  him  also  to  be  the  very  man  for  the  important  and  secret  service  so  urgently  called  for. 
And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  on  the  evening  of  the  fourth  day  after  Stony  Point  had  fallen  into 
Sir  Henry  Clinton's  hands,  while  Captain  Chrystie  was  on  duty  at  an  outpost  in  the  Highlands, 

there  was  put  into  his  hands  the  following  order  : 

"  THURSDAY  EVENING,  June  4th,  1779. 

SIR:  General  St.  Clair  orders  me  to   inform  you  that  his  Excellency  General  Washington  has  occasion  for 
you  immediately.     You  will,  therefore,  report  yourself  at  headquarters,  and  on  your  way  call  at  General  St.  Clair's. 

I  am  your  obedient,  ISAAC  BUTLER,  Aid. 

To  Captain  JAMES  CHRYSTIE,  3d  Pennsylvania  Regiment." 

On  the  same  evening  Captain  Chrystie  received  the  following,  in  General  Hamilton's  hand 
writing,  with  the  autograph  signature  of  Washington  : 

"  Captain  Chrystie  is  sent  by  me  to  give  information  and   make  inquiries.     The  fullest  confidence  is  to  be 
reposed  in  him.  G.  WASHINGTON, 

PoMi'TON,  June  4th,  1779." 

And  under  the  same  date,  and  on  the  same  occasion,  the  following  in  General  Hamilton's 
handwriting  : 

"  Captain  Chrystie,  dispatched  by  his  Excellency  the   Commander-in-Chief,  on  very  important  business,  is 
hereby  authorized  to  impress  horses  by  the  way.     By  his  Excellency's  command. 

HEADQUARTERS,  POMPTON,  June  4th,  1779.  ALEX.  HAMILTON,  Aide-de-Camp.^ 

How  Captain  Chrystie  sped  on  his  journey  can  only  be  gathered  from  the  military 
writings  of  that  date,  though  the  result  of  his  silent  and  arduous  duties  afterwards  speak 
for  themselves.  He  had,  no  doubt,  learned  at  Ticonderoga  and  Quebec,  from  Arnold,  the 


174  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

sioned,  on  the  28th  of  January,  1691,  and  was  the  son  of  an  English  non-con 
formist  divine,  of  a  family  long  resident  in  Yorkshire. 

Early  in  the  Autumn  of  1775,  when  not  yet  seventeen,  he  entered  upon  his 
military  career  as  a  private  in  a  corps  of  American  Fusileers,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Rudolph  Ritzema.  The  following,  addressed  to  Major  John  Vander- 
bilt,  of  Kings  County,  then  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  displays  his 

spirit  as  a  youth: 

"  SIR  :  Ambitious  of  serving  my  country  in  a  military  capacity,  shou'd  be  glad  of  an  appoint 
ment  to  a  commission  in  the  Battalion  to  be  raised  in  this  province. 

I  am,  Sir,  your  very  humble  Servant, 

NEW  YORK,  1 2th  February,  1776.  MATTHEW  CLARKSON." 

In  that  year  he  served  for  a  time — when  probably  waiting  for  the  position 
so  sought — in  Colonel  Josiah  Smith's  Regiment  of  Minute  Men,  of  Suffolk 
County,  raised  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  Long  Island  from  invasion  and 
ravage,  and  with  its  cooperation  with  the  forces  under  Generals  Putnam  and 
Sullivan,  in  the  battle  there.  In  the  next  year,  joining  the  Northern  Army 


favorite  maxim  of  that  yet  unsullied  soldier,  and  one  he  was  often  fond  of  repeating,  that  in 
war  expedition  was  equivalent  to  strength,  for  on  the  next  morning  after  his  leaving  Pomp- 
ton,  N.  J..  General  Washington  received  a  brief  and  hasty  report  from  Colonel  Malcolm, 
then  on  duty  in  the  Highlands,  dated  "  On  the  Road  from  Fort  Montgomery  to  the  Furnace, 
ii  A.  M.,  June  5th,  1779,"  stating  that  "Captain  Chrystie  has  been  here  on  his  business," 
— and  the  celerity  of  his  movements  here  show  the  urgency  of  his  mission,  as  well  as  his 
conviction  that  no  time  was  to  be  lost.  Eighteen  days  after  this,  and  on  the  23d  of  June,  1779, 
Washington,  evidently  acting  under  important  information  acquired  during  that  interval,  removed 
his  headquarters  to  New  Windsor,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Hudson,  at  the  Ellison  mansion,  at 
that  time  standing  on  the  brick-yard  property  now  owned  by  David  Carsen,  and  near  him  and 
about  fifteen  minutes'  walk  north,  also  on  the  river  side,  on  the  site  of  the  mansion  at  Windsor 
Hill,  late  the  residence  of  Thomas  W.  Chrystie,  was  the  home  and  headquarters  of  General 
George  Clinton,  whose  knowledge  and  experience  of  the  forts  and  various  places  in  the  High 
lands  was  as  valuable  as  it  had  been  to  him  costly.  It  may  be  said  in  passing  that,  without 
doubt,  it  was  while  in  New  Windsor  that  the  attack  on  Stony  Point  by  Wayne  was  planned  and 
matured  by  Washington.  Various  changes  were  at  once  made  in  commands  and  positions  in  the 
Highlands,  and  in  particular,  General  Wayne,  on  the  first  of  July,  is  put  in  command  of  the 
Light  Infantry  and  encamped  at  the  Uunderberg,  near  Fort  Montgomery. 

On  the  gth  of  July  following,  Washington  writes  from  New  Windsor  to  Wayne,  expressing 
his  anxiety  for  the  immediate  retaking  of  Stony  Point,  in  his  letter  giving  a  close  and  accurate 
description  of  that  fortress  in  all  its  details  and  surroundings,  as  much  so  as  if  he  had  himself  been 
there.  Nothing  appears  to  have  escaped  the  eye  or  eluded  the  observation.  Wayne's  immediate 
reply  betokens  his  anxiety  to  follow  out  at  once  the  designs  of  his  commander,  for  on  the  next 
day  (the  loth)  Washington,  in  reply  to  Wayne's  "of  that  date  just>rece'd,"  tells  him  he  has 
ordered  the  Quartermaster  to  furnish  him  "  the  Espontoons,"  and  then  gives  him  the  details  of 
how  the  attack  is  to  be  made,  corresponding  in  almost  every  respect  with  Wayne's  carrying  out  of 
the  plan.  And  now  the  ball  begins  to  open,  and  the  men  of  Stony  Point  are  beginning  to  take 
their  places  and  to  play  their  parts,  and  the  following  order  is  given,  issued  by  the  gallant  Colonel 
Richard  Butler,  who  was  to  lead  the  left  wing  in  the  coming  assault,  dated  the  day  after  Wash 
ington's  last  to  Wayne  : 

"  SIR  :  You  will  proceed,  in  company  with  the  party  from  Colonel  Febiger's  Regiment,  to  the  south  side  of  the 
Dunderberg,  in  as  secret  a  manner  as  possible.  You  will  be  put  over  the  creek  at  Fort  Montgomery  by  the  look 
out  boat,  will  pass  by  Doodletown  with  caution,  and  go  on  beyond  the  mountain  to  the  rid^e  between  Parr's  houss 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  175 

operating  to  repel  the  advance  of  Burgoyne,  he  was  wounded  in  the  engage 
ment  at  Fort  Edward,  while  attempting  to  rally  the  fugitives  of  General  St. 
Glair's  retreating  force.  At  Saratoga  he  volunteered  effective  service  to  Colonel 
Morgan,  and  in  acting  as  Aide-de-Camp  to  General  Arnold,  in  the  hottest  of 
the  battle  of  Saratoga.  Was  present  at  the  surrender  of  General  Burgoyne. 
Appointed,  in  1779,  Aide-de-Camp  to  General  Lincoln,  then  commanding  the 


and  King's  Ferry,  taking  great  care  to  keep  an  advance  and  small  flank  parties  for  the  preservation  of  your  com 
mand.  When  you  rise  the  hill  (which  is  but  small)  beyond  Parr's,  you  will  post  proper  sentries  and  wait  for  further 
orders,  leaving  a  subaltern  and  Sergeant  and  12  men  in  the  Dunderberg,  with  orders  to  wait  to  convey  any  person 
or  party  to  join  you.  I  am,  Sir,  your  most  obedient,  humble  servant,  RICHARD  BUTLER,  Colonel. 

nth  JULY,  1779. 

To  Captain  CHRVSTIE." 

Three  days  after  this  (on  the  i-jth)  Washington  writes  to  Wayne  that  he  has  "reflected  on 
the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  delaying  the  proposed  attempt,"  and  says,  "you  may, 
therefore,  carry  it  into  execution  to-morrow  night,  unless  something  new,"  £c.  The  historians 
of  these  times  lay  great  stress  upon  the  fact  that  on  the  evening  of  the  assault  General  Wayne,  by 
posting  guards  at  proper  places,  had  cut  off  all  access  to  and  egress  from  the  garrison  at  Stony 
Point,  who  were  thus  kept  in  complete  ignorance  of  what  was  impending.  But  the  historians  in 
no  case  make  mention  by  whom  or  under  whose  superintendence  this  duty,  so  important  to 
success,  was  performed.  The  last  mentioned  order,  private  and  confidential  in  its  nature,  suffi 
ciently  indicates  that  Captain  Chrystie  was  the  officer  sent  in  advance  of  further  movements  again 
to  explore  the  surroundings  of  the  fort,  and  so  to  select  the  foothold  whereon  his  comrades  might 
stand  when  collecting  themselves  for  the  final  blow.  But  the  blank  in  the  story  of  that  memor 
able  day  is  amply  filled  by  the  following  order,  given  in  Wayne's  own  handwriting,  over  his  own 
signature,  on  the  very  next  day  after  he  receives  Washington's  consent  for  immediate  action, 

and  is  probably  the  written  order  given  by  Wayne  on  that  day  : 

"  FORT  MONT'Y,  isth  July,  1779. 

SIR  :  You  will  march  by  the  Doodletown  route,  and  approach  to  as  near  the  enemy's  lines  as  convenient  before 
night,  so  as  not  to  be  discovered.  You  will  fix  upon  the  proper  place  to  post  your  sentries  from  the  river  towards 
the  old  mill  near  the  causeway,  so  as  to  prevent  any  person  from  going  into  or  coming  out  from  the  enemy  but 
what  you  secure.  You  are  to  take  and  keep  all  the  male  inhabitants  in  the  vicinity  of  the  enemy's  lines  until 
further  orders,  particularly  the  person  you  had  in  charge  the  other  day.  You'll  hear  from  me  this  evening. 

I  am,  Sir,  your  hum.  servt.,  ANT-  WAYNE. 

Capt.  CHRVSTIE." 

How  well  and  how  faithfully  this  most  important  duty  was  performed,  history  and  tradition 
both  inform  us.  Late  in  that  afternoon  every  household  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fort  was  shut  up 
and  guarded  within  its  own  doors.  Every  dog  whose  bark  might  raise  an  echo  of  alarm  in  those 
secluded  mountains  was  effectually  quieted.  No  lip  of  any  sort  was  found  to  utter  a  whisper  of 
the  concourse  of  heroes  soon  secretly  to  muster  in  those  solitudes,  and  when,  in  the  early  shadows 
of  the  evening,  Wayne,  with  his  reconnoitring  party  of  officers,  arrived  at  the  post  of  Captain 
Chrystie,  and  his  line  of  "  sentries  from  the  river  to  the  old  mill  near  the  causeway,"  he  found 
that  welcome  he  looked  for  in  a  silence  and  stillness  equal  to  that  of  midnight.  If  there  is  any 
thing  in  words  that  go  through  one  like  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,  these  few  soldier-like  syllables  of 
Wayne's  last  order  have  it.  So  they  rang  in  the  ears  of  the  brave  and  faithful  soldier  who  had 
the  honor  to  receive  them,  and  who  was  well  fitted  to  take  them  in  and  hold  them  :  "  You'll  hear 
from  me  this  evening."  That  evening  Captain  Chrystie  heard  from  him.  That  night,  when  the 
spell  of  silence  was  broken,  the  British  garrison  heard  from  him.  And  now,  after  the  lapse  of  a 
century  of  time,  the  echoes  of  that  night  still  ring  throughout  a  wide-spread,  grateful  and  admir 
ing  nation. 

It  is  needless  to  continue  the  story  of  that  night,  or  to  tell  how  Captain  Chrystie  and  his 
party  fell  into  line  with  Colonel  Butler's  regiment,  and  shared  with  their  comrades  the  perils  and 
glories  of  that  brilliant  assault,  but  when,  on  the  i6th  of  July,  1879,  the  roll  of  honor  is  called 
before  this  great  nation  in  memory  of  tho^e  who,  one  hundred  years  ago,  mustered  in  the  dark 
ness  and  silence  of  Stony  Point,  his  name  should  not  be  forgotten. 


176  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Southern  Department,  he  participated  in  the  Siege  of  Savannah  in  that  year  and 
in  the  defence  of  Charleston  in  1780.  In  the  latter  he  was  assigned  to  the  com 
mand  as  Major  of  Light  Infantry,  and  became  a  prisoner  upon  the  surrender. 

In  1781,  after  his  release,  he  returned  to  his  position  as  Aide  to  General 
Lincoln,  and  was  with  him  at  the  Surrender  of  Cornwallis,  thus  being  present 
at  the  two  principal  capitulations  of  the  war.  When  Lincoln  was  transferred  to 
the  post  of  Secretary  of  War,  he  acted  as  his  assistant. 

He  had  also  a  share  of  naval  experience  in  the  expedition  fitted  out  by 
Commodore  Whipple,  while  he  was  on  duty  in  Charleston  in  1780,  and  later  in 
the  "  Jason,"  when  sailing  for  the  Chesapeake. 

In  1783,  on  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  he  received  the  commission  of  Lien- 
tenant  Colonel,  by  brevet.  Few  officers  of  his  rank  saw  as  much  active  service 
in  notable  events,  often  voluntarily  and  without  fixed  positions  or  compensa 
tion.  He  married  first  Mary  Rutherfurd,  by  whom  he  had  one  child  (Mrs. 
Peter  Augustus  Jay).  His  second  wife  was  Sarah  Cornell,  by  whom  he  had 
three  sons  and  four  daughters. 

He  served  in  both  Houses  of  the  State  Legislature  ;  as  a  candidate  of  the 
Federal  Party  for  the  United  States  Senate,  receiving  a  majority  of  the  votes 
of  the  Upper  House,  but  failing  on  joint  ballot ;  Major-General  in  the  State 
Service,  by  which  title  in  later  life  he  was  known  ;  and  was  President  of  the 
Bank  of  New  York  for  twenty-one  years.  In  all  his  varied  duties  his  course 
was  marked  with  the  same  devotion  as  to  the  cause  of  his  country.  His  name  is 
also  associated  with  the  foundation  of  nearly  all  the  early  philanthropic  societies 
of  New  York  ;  one  of  the  first  promoters  of  our  free  school  system  ;  for  forty- 
one  years  one  of  the  Regents  of  the  University  ;  for  thirty  years  Governor  of 
the  New  York  Hospital,  twenty-three  years  of  which  he  served  as  its  President ; 
and  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  and  founders  of  the  American  Bible  Society. 

Profoundly  convinced  of  the  equality  of  man,  he  took  a  warm  interest  in 
the  slavery  question,  and  was  bitterly  hostile  to  every  attempt  to  enlarge 
the  area  then  open  to  human  bondage.  As  early  as  1789  he  introduced  a 
bill  in  the  Assembly  for  its  gradual  abolition  in  this  State. 

De  Witt  Clinton,  in  a  memorial  address,  said  : 

"  Wherever  a  charitable  or  public  spirited  institution  was  about  to  be  established,  Clarkson's 
presence  was  considered  essential.  His  sanction  became  a  passport  to  public  approbation." 

"  His  portrait,"  said  Chancellor  Kent,  "  presents  an  elevation  of  moral  grandeur,  above  all 
Greek,  above  all  Roman  fame.  It  belongs  to  Christianity  alone  to  form  and  to  animate  such  a 
character." 

His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

MATTHEW  CLARKSON,  his  grandson,  was  admitted  in  1879,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  Standing  Committee. 


7 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  177 

ALEXANDER  CLINTON 

Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Born  at  Deer  Park,  Orange  County,  in  1765.  He  was  drowned  in  crossing 
the  Hudson  at  Bull's  Ferry  on  the  i5th  of  March,  1787. 

Was  the  eldest  son  of  General  James  Clinton.  Appointed  on  the  2gth  of 
September,  1780,  while  a  boy,  an  Ensign  in  the  ist  Regiment  of  Continental 
Infantry.  At  the  request  of  his  uncle,  Governor  George  Clinton,  he  was  trans 
ferred  and  appointed,  on  the  2pth  of  June,  1781,  Lieutenant  in  the  2d  Regiment 
of  the  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's.  By  a  regimental  order, 
dated  28th  .of  June,  1781,  at  West  Point — although  scarcely  sixteen  years  of  age 
— he  was  assigned  to  Captain  Joseph  Thomas'  Company.  He  also  served  as 
Private  Secretary  to  his  uncle  the  Governor.  Honorably  discharged  with  his 
regiment,  3d  of  November,  1783.  Lost  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  he  had  already 
contributed  his  honorable  record  to  those  of  a  patriotic  and  useful  family. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

DE  WITT  CLINTON,*  Governor  of  New  York,  the  distinguished  states 
man  and  scholar,  succeeded,  as  a  collateral,  his  brother  Alexander  in  1813. 

CHARLES  ALEXANDER  CLINTON,  the  eldest  son  of  Governor  De 
Witt  Clinton,  and  the  nephew  of  Lieutenant  Alexander  Clinton,  was  admitted  in 
the  succession  in  1829.  He  died  2ist  of  November,  1862. 

GEORGE    CLINTON 

Brigadier-General  and   Governor   of  New  York. 

Born  in  Ulster  County,  N.  Y.,  26th  of  July,  1739.  Died  at  Washington, 
D.  C.,  zoth  of  April,  1812,  while  in  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties  as  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States,  the  last  of  many  to  which  his  life  was  devoted. 

His  earliest  service  was  as  a  Lieutenant  of  a  privateer  in  the  expedition 
against  Fort  Frontenac,  accompanied  by  his  brother  James.  He  subsequently 
read  law  with  William  Smith,  the  Chief-Justice  and  historian,  but  returned  to 
his  native  county,  where  Admiral  George  Clinton — of  the  Lincoln  family — 
then  Governor  of  New  York,  under  the  Crown,  conferred  upon  him  a  clerkship. 

*  The  limitation  to  original  members  prevents  the  notice  here  which  his  name  and  often  recorded  merit 
suggests. 


178  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

He  practiced  law  successfully,  and,  as  a  member  of  the  Assembly,  early  opposed 
the  arbitrary  measures  of  the  British  Government.  He  took  his  seat  in  Con 
gress  i5th  of  May,  1775,  vigorously  espoused  and  voted  for  independence;  but 
the  invasion  of  his  State,  calling  him  to  her  defence — being  a  Brigadier-General 
— he  lost  the  opportunity  of  signing  the  Declaration. 

In  1776  he  was  a  Deputy  in  the  New  York  Provincial  Congress,  which  gave 
to  the  State  its  earliest  Constitution.  Having  been  active  in  protecting  his 
State,  he  was  selected  as  a  Brigadier-General  by  Congress  on  the  25th  of 
March,  1777.  In  the  following  month  he  was  chosen  the  first  Governor  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  as  such  stoutly  defended  Forts  Clinton  and  Mont 
gomery  in  the  Highlands,  when,  on  the  6th  of  October,  they  were  attacked  by 
the  forces  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton.  The  appreciation  of  his  services  to  the 
State  was  evidenced  by  his  continuous  elections  as  its  Executive  from  that  time 
to  1795. 

He  was  principally  instrumental  in  defeating  the  British  plan  for  dividing 
the  hardy  New  Englanders  from  the  rest  of  the  Union,  by  establishing  a  chain 
of  military  posts  controlling  the  valleys  of  the  Hudson  and  Lake  Champlain, 
from  New  York  to  the  St.  Lawrence. 

In  June,  1788,  he  presided  over  the  Constitutional  Convention,  but  opposed 
that  important  instrument  from  an  apprehension  that  it  trammelled  too  much 
the  prerogative  of  his  State.  When,  in  1792,  Washington  was  elected  Presi 
dent,  Clinton  received  fifty  electoral  votes  for  Vice- President.  He  was  after 
wards  elevated  to  that  dignity  from  1804  to  1812.  In  the  meanwhile  he  had 
again  been  selected  as  Governor,  from  1801  to  1804.  In  1811  his  casting  vote, 
as  President  of  the  United  States  Senate,  negatived  the  renewal  of  the  charter 
of  the  United  States  Bank.  ' 

He  married  Cornelia  Tappan,  of  Ulster  County.  His  career  forms  one  of 
the  proudest  pages  in  the  history  of  his  State  and  country.  As  soldier  and 
statesman,  he  equally  developed  the  best  elements  attributed  to  those  of  Rome 
in  her  early  purity.  His  virtues  and  valor  were  the  ornament  and  defence  of 
his  people.  Wise  in  council,  brave  in  action  and  pure  in  administration. 

His  tomb  in  the  Congressional  Burying  Ground  should  be  an  object  of 
interest  to  all,  especially  to  New  Yorkers  visiting  the  Capitol. 

> 

GEORGE  WILLIAM  CLINTON,  his  only  grandson  in  the  male  line,  was 
admitted  in  1833,  and  died  without  issue. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  179 


JAMES    CLINTON 

Brigadier-  General. 

The  following  sketch  furnished  by  Mr.  Clinton. 

Born  at  New  Windsor,  Orange  County.  N.  Y.,  on  the  pth  of  August,  1736, 
and  died  there  on  the  22d  of  December,  1812. 

He  was  the  third  son  of  Charles  Clinton,  a  man  of  education  and  influence, 
who  came  from  Longford,  Ireland,  where  his  family  had  found  refuge  from 
political  troubles,  and  in  1729,  settling  in  Ulster  County,  N.  Y.,  became  the 
Lieutenant-Colonel  of  one  of  the  battalions  of  Colonel  Oliver  de  Lancey's  Regi 
ment.  He  was  appointed  by  Admiral  Sir  Charles  Hardy — then  Governor  of 
New  York — an  Ensign  in  (his  father's)  the  2d  Ulster  Militia. 

In  1756,  during  the  French  War,  he  distinguished  himself  at  the  capture  of 
Fort  Frontenac  as  a  Captain  under  Colonel  John  Bradstreet,  capturing  a  sloop- 
of-war  on  Lake  Ontario.  The  command  of  four  companies,  levied  for  the 
protection  of  the  western  frontiers  of  the  Counties  of  Ulster  and  Orange,  a 
position  then  involving  untiring  vigilance  and  great  responsibility,  was  given 
him. 

He  married  Maria  De  Witt  on  the  i8th  of  February,  1765. 

On  the  3oth  of  June,  1775,  he  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the  3d  New  York 
Regiment,  and  followed  General  Montgomery  to  Canada.  Promoted  to  be 
Brigadier-General  on  the  gth  of  August,  1776. 

He  commanded,  at  Forts  Clinton  and  Montgomery,  in  October,  1777,  and 
defended  them  against  three  thousand  British  veterans  under  Sir  Henry 
Clinton,  and  held  the  works  until  they  were  carried  by  storm  and  he  severely 
wounded. 

In  1779  he  joined  General  Sullivan's  expedition  to  the  Indian  Territory  by 
the  way  of  the  Mohawk,  with  sixteen  hundred  men.  In  the  engagement  at 
Newtown,  N.  Y. — now  Elmira — the  Indians  were  defeated  with  heavy  loss,  and 
took  refuge  under  the  British  Fortress  at  Niagara. 

At  Albany  he  was  stationed  in  command  for  some  time,  and  it  is  recorded 
there  as  an  instance  of  his  ability,  that  one  of  the  Massachusetts  Regiments 
refusing  to  march  to  the  aid  of  Schuyler,  he  threatened  to  have  the  officers  and 
ringleaders  shot  unless  they  instantly  obeyed,  which  had  the  desired  effect. 

His  presence  at  Yorktown  was  a  fitting  conclusion  of  his  valuable  services. 

Subsequently  he  was  appointed  a  Commissioner  to  adjust  the  boundary 
between  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  a  member  of  the  Legislature  and  the 
Convention  which  adopted  the  Constitution  of  this  State. 


l8o  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

He  married  secondly  Mary  Little,  the  -widow  of  Alexander  Gray,  on  the  ist 
of  May,  1797.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 

ALEXANDER  CLINTON,  M.D.,  his  eldest  grandson,  was  admitted  in 
1846.  He  was  the  only  son  of  Charles  Clinton,  the  second  son  of  General 
James — whose  eldest  son,  Lieutenant  Alexander,  died  unmarried.  He  was  the 
Physician  of  the  New  York  State  Society,  until  his  decease  in  1878. 

ALEXANDER  JAMES  CLINTON,  eldest  son  of  Dr.  Alexander,  was 
admitted  in  1878,  and  holds  the  office  of  Treasurer  of  the  New  York  State 
Society. 

JOHN    COCHRAN 

Director  of  Military  Hospitals. 

The  following  sketch  furnished  by  General  Cochrane. 

Born  at  Sadsbury,  Penn.,  on  the  ist  of  September,  1730.  Died  at  his 
country  seat  at  Palatine,  Montgomery  County,  N.  Y.,  on  the  6th  of  April,  1807. 

His  family  clansmen  and  kin  of  the  house  of  Dundonald,  from  which  the 
Admiral  of  that  name,  once  connected  with  South  American  warfare,  derived 
his  title,  passed  from  Paisley,  in  Scotland,  to  the  North  of  Ireland  in  1570. 
Three  of  the  descendants,  seeking  greater  freedom  in  the  New  World,  secured 
a  considerable  patent  from  the  sons  of  William  Penn  in  1745,  and  divided  it 
into  farms,  which  still  retain  the  name  of  Cochranville. 

He  was  educated  at  the  grammar  school  of  Dr.  Francis  Allison,  and,  in  the 
profession  which  made  his  life  most  useful,  by  Dr.  Thompson. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  French  and  Indian  War  he  was  qualified  for  the 
position  of  Surgeon's  Mate  in  the  Northern  Army.  In  1758  he  marched  with 
General  John  Bradstreet  against  Fort  Frontenac. 

He  was  the  founder,  in  1766,  of  the  Medical  Society  of  New  Jersey,  and  in 
November,  1769,  succeeded  Dr.  Burnett  as  its  President. 

The  Revolution  taking  form,  he  offered  his  services  in  the  Medical  Depart 
ment.  Washington,  in  a  letter  to  Congress  in  1777,  Eluding  to  his  services 
as  a  volunteer,  and  as  having  served  in  the  French  War,  recommended  his 
appointment. 

On  the  7th  of  April,  in  that  year  Congress,  considered  and  accepted  a  plan 
submitted  by  him  and  Dr.  William  Shippen,  which  was  approved  by  Washing 
ton,  for  hospitals  on  the  English  model.  On  the  loth,  again  on  Washington's 
recommendation,  he  was  appointed  Physician  and  Surgeon-General  of  the  Army 


]D  ?  J-D PI  N     C  t!»  C  33 R 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  l8l 

of  the  Middle  Department.  In  this  position  he  deeply  deplored  the  defective 
equipment  and  inefficiency  which  characterized  the  new  service,  in  which  he 
found  himself  at  times  responsible  without  means  for  relief.  In  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Jonathan  Potts,  the  Purveyor  General,  at  Morristown,  iSth  of  March,  1780,  he 
says  : 

"  I  received  your  favor  by  Dr.  Bond,  and  am  extremely  sorry  for  the  present  situation  of  the 
Hospital  Finances.  Our  stores  have  all  been  expended  for  two  weeks  past,  and  not  less  than  six 
hundred  regimental  sick  and  lame,  most  of  whom  require  some  assistance,  it  being  withheld,  are 
languishing  and  must  suffer.  I  flatter  myself  you  have  no  blame  in  this  matter,  but  curse  on 
him  or  them,  by  whom  this  evil  is  produced.  The  vengeance  of  an  offended  Diety  must  overtake 
the  miscreants  sooner  or  later.  It  grieves  'my  soul  to  see  the  poor,  worthy,  brave  fellows,  pine 
away  for  want  of  a  few  comforts,  which  they  have  dearly  earned.  I  shall  wait  on  his  excellency, 
the  Commander-in-Chief ,  and  represent  our  situation,  but  I  am  persuaded  it  can  have  but  little 
effect,  for  what  can  he  do  ?  He  may  refer  the  matter  to  Congress,  they  to  the  Medical  Com 
mittee,  who  will  probably  pow-wow  over  it  awhile  and  no  more  be  heard  of  it.  The  f e\y  stores 
sent  on  by  Dr.  Bond,  in  your  absence,  are  not  yet  arrived,  I  suppose  owing  to  the  badness  of  the 
roads.  If  they  come,  they  will  give  us  some  relief  for  a  few  weeks." 

This  is  one  of  the  many  manly  protests  of  a  witness  of  the  effects  of  delay, 
often  doubtless  attributed  to  himself  by  the  sufferers.  They  appear  to  have 
been  wrung  from  his  generous  nature  by  the  often  recurring  results  of  either 
the  negligence,  delay  or  want  of  means  of  those  who  carry  on  the  sanitary 
department  of  warfare,  by  a  bureau  or  executive,  too  remote  for  intelligent 
operations.  In  January,  1781,  when  Dr.  Shippen  resigned  the  position  of 
Director-General,  Congress  immediately,  without  solicitation,  conferred  the 
post  upon  Dr.  Cochran,  which  he  acknowledged  from  New  Windsor,  Conn.,  on 
the  3d  of  February  in  a  letter  to  the  President  of  Congress  : 

"  I  received  your  Excellence's  favor  of  the  i8th  of  January  yesterday  enclosing  an  Act  of 
Congress,  appointing  me  Director  of  the  Medical  Hospitals.  I  thank  Congress  for  this  additional 
mark  of  honor  conferred  on  me,  and  you  Sir,  for  the  polite  and  obliging  manner  in  which  you  are 
pleased  to  communicate  the  same.  If  my  past  conduct  in  the  station  of  Physician  and  Surgeon- 
General  to  the  Army,  which  I  have  filled  for  near  four  years,  has  been  acceptable  to  that  honorable 
body,  I  hope  my  future  endeavors  to  perform  the  duties  of  my  new  office,  will  be  no  less  so.  As 
far  as  my  abilities  will  enable  me  to  execute  the  Trust,  they  shall  be  most  faithfully  exercised  and 
whatever  errors  may  fall  to  my  lot,  they  will  proceed  from  a  want  of  judgment  and  not  of 
intention." 

In  this  broader  field  Dr.  Cochran  did  not  remit  vigilance  in  minor  details, 
and  his  letters  abound  in  suggestions,  appeals  and  protests,  in  seeking  for 
necessary  supplies  and  facilities.  In  one  from  New  Windsor,  in  February,  1781, 
to  Abraham  Clark  (the  Signer),  then  Chairman  of  the  Medical  Committee,  he 
says  : 

"  Though  we  have  few  deaths,  yet  the  poor  fellows  suffer  for  want  of  necessary  supplies, 
which  I  hope  will  soon  be  afforded  them,  otherwise  there  will  be  little  occasion  for  Physicians  and 
Surgeons." 

To  Purveyor  Thomas  Bond  he  writes  on  the  following  25th  of  March  : 

"  I  am  sorry  to  inform  you  that  I  found  the  Hospital — at  Albany — entirely  destitute  of  all 
kinds  of  stores,  except  a  little  vinegar,  which  was  good  for  nothing,  and  frequently  without  Bread 


182  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

or  Beef  for  many  days,  so  that  the  Doctor  under  these  circumstances  was  obliged  to  permit  such 
of  the  patients  as  could  walk  into  town  to  beg  provisions  amongst  the  inhabitants." 

Again,  on  the  26.  of  April : 

"  Neither  myself  nor  any  of  the  gentlemen  who  have  served  with  me,  have  received  a  shilling 
from  the  Public  in  twenty  three  months,  which  has,  as  you  may  reasonably  suppose,  reduced  me 
to  some  difficulties." 

In  another  to  Abraham  Clark,  on  the  3oth  : 

"  I  have  from  all  quarters  the  most  melancholy  complaints,  of  the  sufferings  of  the  sick  in 
the  Hospitals  for  want  of  stores  and  necessaries,  that  you  can  conceive  ;  and  unless  some  speedy 
remedy  is  applied  the  consequences  must  be  very  fatal.  As  soon  as  my  strength  will  enable  me, 
I  propose  setting  out  for  Philadelphia.  On  the  5th  instant  I  was  taken  sick  with  a  Pleurisy, 
which  has  confined  me  until  yesterday,  and  has  left  me  very  weak." 

He  was  going  to  plead  at  the  door  of  Congress  for  relief  from  the  distress 
which  surrounded  his  duties,  and  these  evidences  of  an  eye-witness  seem 
worthy  here,  as  showing  the  sufferings  out  of  which  our  nationality  arose. 

While  in  camp  in  July,  he  begs  Dr.  Bond  to  send  aid,  suggesting  : 

"  Could  you  not  by  advertizement  be  able  to  procure  a  quantity  of  old  linen  from  the  good 
ladies  of  your  city  ?  I  was  obliged  after  the  last  skirmish,  when  fifty  men  were  wounded,  to  give 
every  shirt  I  had  in  the  world  but  two,  to  make  lint.  *  I  dread  the  thought  of  an  action, 

when  we  have  it  not  in  our  power  to  relieve  the  distress  of  the  unfortunate." 

Dr.  Cochran's  correspondence  shows  many  duties,  outside  of  his  special 
field,  well  performed.  He  appears  to  have  anticipated  emergencies,  allayed 
jealousies,  protected  his  subordinates  from  wrong,  and  to  have  aided  them, 
when  unqualified,  even  in  the  performance  of  their  duties.  He  tabulated 
returns  for  the  information  of  the  Commander-in-Chief,  and  appears  to  have 
displayed  at  all  times  subordination  of  self,  cheerfulness  in  adversity  and 
courage  amidst  danger. 

When  retired  from  such  service,  the  same  characteristics  made  him  a  useful 
and  honored  citizen,  and  well  fitted  to  enjoy  and  protect  what  he  had  suffered 
to  win.  Good  men  appreciated  his  services  and  sought  his  friendship.  Of 
these,  Lafayette,  Wayne  and  Paul  Jones  may  be  recalled.  Washington  gave 
him  his  camp  equipage,  Lafayette  sent  him  a  gold  watch,  and  "  Mad  Anthony" 
Wayne  his  sword.  Lafayette  says  in  a  letter  written  from  France  in  1779  : 

"  As  during  my  fit  of  illness  the  watch  I  had  then  was  of  great  use  to  you  in  feeling  my 
pulse,  I  thought  such  an  one  might  be  convenient,  which  I  have  entrusted  to  the  Chevalier  de  la 
Luzerne,  and  beg  leave  to  present  you  with  it.  I  did  fancy  that  adorning  it  with  my  heroic 
friend's  picture  would  make  it  acceptable.  Be  so  kind,  my  dear  Sir,  as  to  present  my  best  respects 
to  your  lady,  and  my  best  compliments  to  your  brother  Doctors  and  my  brother  officers  of  the 
Army.  Tell  them  how  sincerely  I  love  them,  how  much  I  desire  to  join  them  again." 

In  1790,  on  the  adoption  of  the  new  Constitution,  Washington  selected  him 
— to  use  his  own  words — "  a  cheerful  recollection  of  his  past  services,"  and 
"  reposing  special  confidence  in  him  " — as  the  Commissioner  of  Loans  for  the 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  183 

State  of  New  York,  but  a  stroke  of  paralysis  warned  him  to  surrender  this  and 
other  trusts.  Retiring  to  his  country  home,  he  died,  and  with  his  wife,  Ger 
trude,  the  only  sister  of  General  Schuyler,  who  survived  him  until  March,  1813, 
lies  buried  in  Forest  Hill  Cemetery,  Utica,  N.  Y.  His  name  appears  on  the 
Half- Pay  Roll  as  Director-General. 

JAMES  COCHRAN,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1817.  He  married 
Catharine  Van  Renssalaer,  the  youngest  daughter  of  General  Schuyler,  and 
died  without  issue. 

JOHN  COCHRANE,  Brigadier-General,  U.  S.  A.,  his  eldest  grandson 
(son  of  Walter  Livingston  Cochran,  the  only  brother  of  the  foregoing),  was 
admitted  in  1858.  He  was  a  member  of  Congress  from  1856  to  1862,  and 
Attorney-General  of  New  York  in  1865,  Chairman  of  the  Standing  Committee 
and  a  delegate  to  the  triennial  meetings  of  this  Society. 


ROBERT  COCHRAN 

Lieutenant-Colonel   2d  New  York  Regiment. 

The    following   sketch    furnished   by   Major   Asa    Bird   Gardiner. 

Died  at  Sandy  Hill,  N.  Y.,'3d  of  July,  1812. 

He  was  one  of  those  pioneer  settlers  of  the  New  Hampshire  Grants  (now 
Vermont),  holding  under  the  title  of  the  Governor  of  that  Colony,  but  claimed 
by  New  York.  Although  this  controversy  confused  the  cooperation  of  the 
Territory  in  the  ensuing  struggle  for  freedom,  he  was  not  one  of  those  who 
were  alienated  by  it  from  the  common  cause.  As  a  Captain  in  the  "  Green 
Mountain  Boys,"  associated  with  Colonel  Ethan  Allen  and  others  prominent  in 
the  resistance  to  New  York,  he  had  been  declared  guilty  of  felony,  and  sent 
enced  to  death  by  the  Act  of  the  Legislature  of  the  gth  of  March,  1774.  He, 
with  six  others,  had  hurled  back  a  counter  charge  at  Bennington  on  the  26th  of 
the  ensuing  April ;  but  they  soon  buried  the  recollection  of  the  local  contro 
versy,  and  stood  side  by  side  with  their  recent  opponents  in  resisting  a  common 
oppressor.  He  was  residing  with  his  family  opposite  Gilliland's  Creek,  on  Lake 
Champlain,  when  the  war  broke  out,  and  as  a  Provisional  Captain,  under  Ethan 
Allen,  was  with  him  at  the  capture  of  u  Ticonderoga "  and  "Crown  Point." 

On  the  5th  of  July,  1775,  he  was  commissioned  by  the  Provincial  Congress 
of  New  York  a  Captain  in  Colonel  Ethan  Allen's  "  Green  Mountain  Boys,"  con 
sisting  of  seven  companies. 


184  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

In  December,  1775,  he  became  Senior  Captain  in  Colonel  Samuel  Ellmore's 
Regiment  of  Infantry  in  the  Continental  service,  and  on  the  2Qth  of  July,  1776, 
was  promoted  to  be  its  Major,  and  stationed  successively  at  Fort  Dayton  and 
Fort  Schuyler  (formerly  Stanwix).  On  the  reorganization  of  the  New  York 
Line  for  the  war  he  was  particularly  recommended  for  a  commission,  and  was, 
on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  appointed  Major  of  the  3d  Regiment,  New 
York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Gansevoort. 

He  was  with  General  Schuyler  during  the  Burgoyne  campaign,  and  was 
sent  to  the  Vermont  Council  of  Safety  at  Bennington,  urging  militia  reinforce 
ments.  Was  present  at  the  Battle  of  Saratoga  and  at  Burgoyne's  surrender. 

On  the  1 8th  of  May,  1779,  he  appears,  in  the  New  York  Calender  of 
Historical  Manuscripts,  as  at  Albany  petitioning  Governor  Clinton  as  a  free 
holder  and  inhabitant  of  the  State,  having  a  wife  and  six  children  with  whom 
he  lived  on  Lake  Champlain  on  some  of  his  lands  there,  until  the  operation  of 
the  war  to  the  northward  rendered  it  necessary  for  him  to  leave  his  habitation 
and  retire  with  his  family  into  the  more  interior  parts  of  the  country;  that  being 
convinced  of  the  just  rights  of  this  country  in  its  contest  with  Great  Britain, 
and  of  the  justice  as  well  as  expediency  of  opposing,  by  force  of  arms,  their 
tyrannical  usurpations,  he  was  one  of  the  first  in  this  State  who  stood  forth  and 
entered  into  the  service  of  his  country  ;  presumes  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  man 
to  allege  anything  against  his  character  as  an  officer,  a  gentleman  or  a  soldier ; 
and  after  reciting  his  services  and  rank  as  a  Major,  the  resolution  of  Congress 
granting  lands  according  to  rank,  and  that  he  is  so  entitled  to  four  hundred 
acres,  asks  for  a  grant  of  that  area  at  Crown  Point,  part  of  which  has  been 
heretofore  reserved  by  the  Crown  of  Britain  for  the  use  of  a  garrison  there  in 
time  of  war,  under  such  conditions,  restrictions  and  limitations  as  his  Excellency 
may  deem  necessary  and  expedient. 

He  served  with  his  regiment  in  General  Sullivan's  expedition  against  the 
Six  Nations,  participating  in  the  defeat  of  Sir  John  Johnson  and  Brant  at 
Newtown. 

Promoted  to  be  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  his  regiment  on  22d  of  December, 
1779.  On  the  ist  of  January,  1781,  on  the  incorporation  of  the  Line,  he  was 
transferred  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  to  the  2d  New  York  Regiment — Van  Cort- 
landt's.  He  served  at  Yorktown,  and  was  honorably  discharged  3d  of  Novem 
ber,  1783. 

His  remains  rest  at  Fort  Edward,  near  those  of  Jane  McCrea,  whose  tragic 
fate  is  a  thrilling  Revolutionary  incident. 

It  is  related  in  his  career  he  once  attested  a  woman's  fidelity  and  his  own 
presence  of  mind,  when,  in  1778,  he  was  sent  to  Canada  on  secret  service,  his 
presence  suspected,  a  tempting  reward  was  offered  for  his  head.  While  lying 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  185 

sick  and  hungry,  concealed  in  a  brush  heap,  he  heard  three  men  and  a  woman 
— one  being  her  husband — discussing  and  planning  his  capture.  The  men 
departing  in  pursuit  of  him,  he  threw  himself  upon  the  mercy  of  the  woman, 
who  agreed  to  save  him.  Before  their  return,  leading  him  to  a  safe  place  of 
refuge,  she  ministered  to  his  wants,  until  he  had  recovered  sufficiently  to  escape. 
He  died  leaving  only  one  daughter,  Janet.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- 
Pay  Roll. 

CHRISTOPHER  CODWISE 

Lieutenant  2d  New  York  Regiment. 

Appointed  Lieutenant  2d  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt — on 
the  2ist  of  November,  1776. 

Major  James  Abeel,  of  Colonel  Lasher's  Regiment,  wrote,  from  the  camp  at 
White  Plains  on  the  27th  of  October,  1776,  to  the  members  of  the  State  Con 
vention,  then  sitting,  the  following  : 

"I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  recommend  Mr.  Christopher  Codwise  to  you  as  a  person 
properly  qualified  to  bear  the  commission  of  Captain  in  the  Army  of  the  States,  he  being  a 
resolute,  prudent  officer,  and  has  shown  his  willingness,  before  he  was  in  the  service  of  the  States, 
to  go  as  a  volunteer  on  every  expedition,  and  has  always  behaved  himself  well,  and  since  his 
having  been  an  officer,  has  always  discharged  his  duty  in,  his  station  to  the  satisfaction  of  his 
superior  officers." 

The  Committee  appointed  him  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  Second 
Lieutenant  in  the  Seventh  Company  of  the  2d  New  York  Regiment.  In  June, 
1777,  he  was  appointed  First  Lieutenant  of  the  same  company.  He  served 
until  deranged  by  Act  of  Congress  in  January,  1781.  His  name  appears  on  the 
Half-Pay  Roll. 

WILLIAM  COLBRATH 

Lieutenant  and   Quartermaster    2d  New    York   Regiment. 

Appointed  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  Ensign  in  the  3d  Regiment,  New 
York  Continental  Infantry,  on  recommendation  of  Colonel  Gansevoort. 

In  a  certificate  signed  by  Colonel  Frederick  Weissenfels  at  Quebec,  on  the 
i5th  of  April.  1775,  and  approved  by  General  Wooster,  then  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  Continental  Forces  before  Quebec,  he  is  mentioned  with  officers 
of  his — then  Colonel  Nicholson's — Regiment  as  a  Second  Lieutenant. 

Transferred  to  the  2d  Regiment,  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Van  Cort- 
landt's— on  the  ist  of  January,  1781,  and  appointed  Regimental  Quartermaster, 


1 86  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Captain  (by  brevet)  on  the  3oth  of  September,  1783.  Honorably  discharged 
with  his  regiment  on  the  3d  of  November,  following.  His  name  appears  on 
the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


Lieutenant  2il  New  York  Regiment. 

He  was  residing  at,  and  became  an  Associator  in,  Kingston,  Ulster  County, 
in  May,  1775. 

On  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  he  was  appointed  First  Lieutenant  of 
Captain  Bevier's  Company,  5th  Regiment,  New  York  Continental  Regiment — 
Colonel  Du  Bois. 

In  July,  1778,  he  was  on  detached  duty  at  New  Windsor  as  Regimental 
Paymaster,  but  on  the  ist.  of  January,  1781,  was  transferred  to  the  2d  Regi 
ment,  New  York  Continental  Infantry — Van  Cortlandt's.  Under  the  Act  of 
Congress,  3oth  of  September,  1783,  he  was  breveted  a  Captain,  and  honorably 
discharged  the  service  on  the  3d  of  November  following. 

In  all  official  trusts  it  is  claimed  that  he  markedly  possessed  the  confidence 
of  the  officers  and  soldiers  with  whom  he  served,  and  that  his  final  returns,  filed 
with  the  Secretary  of  State  of  New  York,  and  his  certificates,  on  any  question 
affecting  the  position  or  accounts  of  others,  were  considered  conclusive. 

He  is  reported  to  have  been  frequently  consulted  by  Governor  George 
Clinton  and  the  other  Commissioners  of  the  Land  Office  of  the  State,  while 
military  land  warrants  were  being  located,  as  to  their  validity.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


JOHN  CONWAY 

Lieutenant-Colonel   ist  New  Jersey   Regiment. 

He  was  appointed  Captain  of  the  First  Battalion,  First  Establishment,  on 
the  2ist  of  November,  1775,  and  of  the  First  Battalion, Second  Establishment, 
on  the  29th  of  November,  1776,  and  Major  of  the  Fourth  Battalion,  Second 
Establishment,  on  the  spth  of  October,  1777. 

Appointed  Major  of  the  3d  Regiment,  New  Jersey  Continental  Infantry — 
Colonel  Elias  Dayton,  on  the  2pth  of  October,  1777.  Promoted  to  be  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  of  the  ist  Regiment,  New  Jersey  Continental  Infantry,  on  the  5*h  of 
July,  1779. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  187 

He  was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Germantown.  Resigned  the  service  on 
the  ist  of  February,  1781,  after  serving  five  years  and  three  months. 

Subsequently  he  became  the  Sheriff  of  Middlesex  County,  N.  J.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

CONWAY  HILLYER  ARNOLD,  his  great  grandson,  Lieutenant  United 
States  Navy,  was  admitted  in  his  right  by  the  New  Jersey  State  Society  on  the 
4th  of  July,  1882. 


SAMUEL  COOPER 

Lieutenant  and  Adjutant  of  the  $d Regiment  of  Artillery  (Massachusetts]. 

Born  in  1757. 

He  was  one  of  the  memorable  "  Tea  Party,"  the  original  boycotters  of 
America  in  1773. 

Appointed  Second  Lieiitenant  of  the  3d  Regiment,  Continental  Corps  of 
Artillery — Captain  John  Crane — ist  of  February,  1777.  Appointed  Regimental 
Quartermaster  i4th  of  May,  1778,  and  acting  Regimental  Adjutant  nth  of  June, 
1783- 

He  was  continued  in  the  service  on  the  reduction  of  his  regiment  on  the 
1 2th  of  June,  1783,  and  honorably  discharged  with  his  company  on  the  ist  of 
January,  1784. 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Society,  but  was, 
upon  his  removal  to  New  York  City,  on  the  3d  of  July,  1804,  transferred  to  the 
New  York  State  Society.  He  held  the  office  of  Inspector  of  Pot  and  Pearl 
Ashes,  from  1808  to  1830,  until  he  removed  to  Georgetown,  D.  C.,  where  he 
died  at  an  advanced  age.  His  names  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


ANDREW   CRAIGIE 

Apothecary-  General. 

Born  at  Boston  7th  of  June,  1743.  He  died  on  the  igth  of  September, 
1819,  at  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Appointed  Apothecary-General  in  the  Continental  Service  on  the  ist  of  Jan 
uary,  1777,  on  General  Washington's  recommendation,  under  the  resolution  of 
Congress  reorganizing  the  Medical  Department,  adopted  3oth  of  September, 
1780. 


l88  THE    SOCIE'TY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

After  faithful  service,  most  of  the  time  in  Philadelphia,  he  was  honorably 
discharged  on  the  3d  of  November,  1783.  His  residence  was  the  Vassel  Place 
at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  well  known  both  as  Washington's  Headquarters  and  the 
home  of  the  Poet  Longfellow,  for  which  he  paid  ,£3,750,  a  large  sum,  especially 
for  a  veteran  at  that  day. 

A  bridge  from  Boston  to  Lechmere  Point,  of  which  he  was  the  projector, 
recalls  his  name.  He  appears  upon  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


JOHN  BUTTON  CRIMSHEIR 

Lieutenant  and  Paymaster  New  York  Artillery. 

Appointed  Paymaster  2d  Regiment,  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel 
Lamb's — on  the  ist  of  July,  1777. 

Honorably  discharged,  after  three  years'  service,  on  the  i4th  of  September, 
1779,  by  act  of  Congress,  2pth  of  July,  1779.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- 
Pay  Roll. 

EBENEZER    CROSBY 

Surgeon.     His  Excellency 's  Guard* 

The  following  sketch  furnished  by  Mr.  Ernest  H.  Crosby. 

Born  3oth  of  September,  1753.     Died  i6th  of  July,  1788. 

He  was  the  son  of  Judge  Joseph  Crosby,  of  Braintree  (now  Quincy),  Mass., 
his  birth-place.  Graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1767.  The  degree  of  A.M. 
was  conferred  upon  him  both  by  Harvard  and  Yale  in  1782. 

He  left  his  native  town  at  an  early  age,  joined  the  army  before  Boston  as  a 
Surgeon,  and  served  his  country  as  such  faithfully  for  seven  years. 

He  graduated  from  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  Pennsyl 
vania  in  the  Class  of  1780,  taking  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Medicine,  and 
when  located  in  New  York  City,  after  the  war,  was  elected,  in  1785,  Professor 
of  Obsterics  in  Columbia  College,  and  became,  in  1787,  by  the  action  of  the 
Legislature,  one  of  its  trustees. 

By  his  marriage  with  Catharine  Bedlow,  daughter  of  William  Bedlow — the 
owner  of  Bedlow's  Island  in  New  York  Harbor — and  niece  of  Colonel  Henry 
Rutgers,  he  became  connected  with  several  of  the  leading  families  of  New 


*  The  bodyguard  of  General  Washington. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  189 

York.  A  large  portion  of  the  Rutgers  estate  passed  to  his  son,  William  Bedlow 
Crosby,  whose  merit  is  found  often  recorded. 

In  the  Fall  of  1787,  Dr.  Crosby's  health  failing,  he  sought  relief  in  a  voyage 
to  St.  Vincent's  and  the  climate  of  the  tropics. 

He  died  at  the  residence  of  his  father-in-law  in  Wall  Street  in  the  next  year. 

His  practice  was  approved  by  the  physicians  of  his  period,  and  his  college 
lectures  were  marked  for  their  ability.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay 
Roll. 

WILLIAM  BEDLOW  CROSBY,  his  second  son,  was  admitted  in  1810— 
the  eldest  son,  John  Player  Crosby,  dying  without  issue. 

WILLIAM  HENRY  CROSBY,  his  grandson,  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted 
in  1865.  He  was  elected  Treasurer  in  1881,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Standing 
Committee  and  Delegate  to  the  triennial  meetings  of  the  Society. 


HENRY  CUNNINGHAM 

Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

He  enlisted,  June,  1776,  in  Captain  Sebastian  Bauman's  Company  of  Colonel 
Knox's  Regiment  of  Continental  Artillery.  Transferred  with  his  company,  ist 
of  January,  1777,  to  the  2d  Regiment  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel 
Lamb's.  Appointed  Sergeant-Major,  and  honorably  discharged  as  such  by  the 
expiration  of  his  enlistment  in  June,  1779.  Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  of  his 
late  regiment  i2th  of  September,  1779,  and  Regimental  Quartermaster  28th  of 
July,  1780.  Promoted  to  be  First  Lieutenant  of  the  same  8th  of  April,  1782, 
but  resigned  as  Regimental  Quartermaster  ist  of  January,  1783. 

Honorably  discharged  with  a  portion  of  his  regiment  ist  of  January,  1784. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


JAMES     DAVIDSON 

Commissary  of  Stores,  General  Hospital. 

The  following  communication  to  the  Standing  Committee  of  this  Society, 
dated  New  York,  26th  of  June,  1810,  gives  the  best  material  attainable  : 

"  GENTLEMEN:  Some  years  ago  sundry  of  my  friends  belonging  to  the  Cincinnati   Society 
proposed  that  I  should  offer  myself  a  candidate  as  an   Honorary  Member  (of  that  Society)  not 


igo  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

doubting,  but  on  proper  application  I  should  be  admitted,  for  altho'  I  was  not  in  the  department 
of  fighting,  yet  as  a  Staff  Officer,  I  had  to  the  best  of  my  abilities  done  my  duty. 

"  However,  time  past  along  and  owing  to  a  combination  of  circumstances  the  application 
was  not  made,  but  yet  never  entirely  lost  sight  of  by  me.  I  therefore  at  this  late  date  offer  a 
statement  of  a  few  facts  which  may  have  some  weight  with  the  honorable  Members  of  an  Honor 
able  Board. 

"  I  joined  the  General  Hospital  Department  under  the  direction  of  Doctor  Morgan  at  New 
York  in  1776,  as  Commissary  of  Stores,  providing  not  only  for  the  said  Gen1  Hospital  but  for 
upwards  of  20  Regimental  Hospitals,  until  our  evacuation  of  that  City,  and  owing  to  a  consider 
able  quantity  of  Stores  on  hand,  belonging  to  that  Department  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  continue 
by  them  to  the  last  moment,  endeavoring  to  transport  them  to  Paulus  Hook,  which  I  did  having 
sundry  boats  under  my  direction,  in  which  from  daylight  to  3  o'clock  P  M  on  Sunday,  a  con 
siderable  quantity  was  saved,  at  which  time  the  Enemy  had  advanced  so  near  to  the  City,  it  was 
thought  advisable  to  decamp  :  and  so  near  were  we  to  being  taken  that  General  Knox  and  Dr. 
Eustis's  retreat  was  cut  off  on  the  Island,  and  who  were  saved  (in  the  last  boat)  from  imprison 
ment,  the  British  flag  being  displayed  on  our  Battery  before  we  had  half  crossed  the  River. 

"  I  was  afterward  stationed  for  a  time  at  Newark,  Hackensack  and  Bethlehem,  and  finally 
was  ordered  on  with  that  part  of  the  G.  H.  fixed  at  Danbury  in  Connecticut  at  which  place,  the 
sudden  descent  of  a  part  of  the  enemy  under  the  command  of  Gen.  Agnew,  left  us  but  a  narrow 
chance  of  escape,  as  on  a  former  occasion  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  transport  as  many  of  the  stores 
as  I  could  to  a  place  of  safety.  However  after  an  absence  of  part  of  a  day  and  night,  they  in 
their  turn  made  as  precipitate  a  retreat. 

"  I  continued  in  the  Army  till  the  year  1780  leaving  the  Department  (I  have  the  vanity  to 
think,)  in  the  best  possible  regulation.  I  have  the  Honor,  Gentlemen,  to  be 

"  Your  very  humble  Servant, 

"JAS.   DAVIDSON." 

His  application  for  membership  was  presented  to  the  meeting  of  the  Stand 
ing  Committee  on  the  a6th  of  June,  1805,  but  was  not  acted  upon  until  the  4th 
of  July,  1811,  when  "in  conformity  to  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  Enquiry, 
Doctor  James  Davidson  was  admitted  a  member,  and  took  his  seat  accord 
ingly."  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll  as  Commissary  of  New  York. 


HENRY    DEMLER 

Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

He  served  as  an  Assistant  to  the  Quartermaster-General — Colonel  Timothy 
Pickering — from  ist  of  October,  1780,  until  appointed  Second  Lieutenant,  2d 
Regiment,  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's — on  the  2ist  of 
December,  1781.  ^ 

Was  then  assigned  to  duty  as  Assistant  Quartermaster  in  the  main  army, 
and  after  the  discharge  of  most  of  the  Continental  troops,  at  West  Point,  on 
the  ist  of  January,  1784,  was  ordered  to  Philadelphia  to  settle  his  own  accounts 
and  assist  in  settling  those  in  the  Quartermaster's  Department.  He  was  finally 
honorably  discharged  ist  of  June,  1784.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay 
Roll  with  rank  of  Lieutenant. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  IQI 

DANIEL     DENISTON 

Lieutenant  id  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  3d  of  February,  1824. 

Appointed  Ensign  4th  Regiment,  New  York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel 
Henry  B.  Livingston's — gth  of  November,  1777.  Transferred  to  the  2d  Regi 
ment,  New  York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's — on  the  reduc 
tion  of  the  army,  rst  of  January,  1781.  Honorably  discharged  the  service  with 
his  regiment,  3d  of  November,  1783,  with  the  rank  of  Lieutenant.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

GEORGE    I.   DENNISTON 

Lieutenant  $d  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  June,  1812. 

He  was  recommended  by  General  James  Clinton  on  6th  of  December,  1776, 
as  an  Ensign,  and  was  appointed  in  the  Sixth  Company  of  the  3d  Regiment, 
New  York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Gansevoort — with  rank  dating  from 
the  2ist  of  November,  1776. 

Promoted,  in  1780,  to  be  a  Lieutenant  in  his  regiment,  until  becoming  super 
numerary  by  juniority,  ist  of  January,  1781,  on  the  incorporation  and  reduction 
of  the  New  York  Line,  he  was  honorably  retired  on  that  date.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

PIERRE   REGNIER   DE   ROUSSY 

Lieutenant-Colonel  2d  New  York  Regiment. 

He  served  in  the  armies  of  Europe,  when,  coming  to  this  country,  he  joined 
in  1776  the  Continental  Army  in  Canada.  His  commission  as  Sub- Inspector, 
with  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel,  was  conferred  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776. 

On  the  1 7th  of  March,  1777,  a  letter  from  General  Washington,  dated  2oth 
of  February,  was  read  to  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  in  favor  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Regnier — by  which  name  he  often  appears — and  on  the  26th  they 
appointed  him  Lieutenant-Colonel  in  the  New  York  Continental  Infantry,  with 
rank  dating  from  the  i2th  of  the  January  preceding. 

In  1778  he  was  detailed  to  duty  as  an  Inspector  under  the  Inspector-General, 
Baron  Steuben,  and  in  January,  1779,  was  transferred  to  the  2d  Regiment, 


192  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

New  York  Continental   Infantry — Colonel  Van   Cortlandt — but   continued   on 
detached  duty. 

On  the  3ist  of  March,  1780,  he  was  honorably  discharged  the  service  at  his 
own  request.     His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


SIMEON     DE     WITT 

Geographer  to  the  Continental  Army. 

The    following   sketch    furnished    by   Mr.    De   Witt. 

Born  in  Ulster  County,  N.  Y.,  on  Christmas,  1756.  Died  on  the  3d  of 
December,  1834,  at  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

His  father,  Dr.  Andrew  De  Witt,  belonged  to  that  branch  of  the  family 
which  settled  in  Ulster  County  during  Governor  Stuyvesant's  administration, 
and  is  said  to  have  been  connected  with  Captain  Jan  de  Witt,  who,  while  in  the 
service  of  Holland,  explored  the  coasts  of  New  York  and  New  England,  and 
also  with  the  settler  of  the  same  name  who  soon  afterward  erected  a  mill  on 
Manhattan  Island. 

He,  with  fourteen  others  of  his  name,  signed  the  Articles  of  Association  at 
Rochester,  Ulster  County,  6th  of  July,  1775,  his  father  being  chairman.  While 
at  Queen's  College,  New  Brunswick,  he  enrolled  in  a  company  composed  of  its 
students,  and  when  it  was  broken  up  by  the  capture,  he  went  to  reside  with  his 
uncle,  General  James  Clinton.  He  joined  the  line  of  the  Continental  Army  as 
a  volunteer,  and  was  present  at  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne. 

Washington  selected  him  as  Assistant  Geographer  of  the  army  from  1778 
to  1780,  when  he  was  appointed  by  Congress,  4th  of  December.  1780.  its 
Geographer.  He  continued  in  that  capacity  and  as  Chief  of  Topographical 
Engineers — in  the  place  of  Colonel  Erskin,  who  resigned  and  returned  to  Europe 
— until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  present  at  Yorktown,  giving  effective 
service  both  there  and  on  the  march.  His  military  surveys  and  maps  were  of 
great  assistance  to  Washington. 

Honorably  discharged  the  service  on  the  3d  of  November,  1783.  The  next 
year  he  was  appointed  Surveyor-General  of  New  York,  and  served  as  such 
until  his  decease.  He  surveyed  public  lands  in  that  State — a  work  of  great 
labor  and  importance — and  compiled  them  in  1804  in  his  valuable  State  map. 
It  is  claimed  that  he  did  not  avail  himself  of  his  knowledge  of  these  lands  by 
the  purchase  of  an  acre  when  they  were  sold.  He  also  superintended  the 
survey  of  the  Erie  Canal.  Was  one  of  the  Commissioners  to  settle  the  position 
of  the  State  line  between  New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  He  was  Regent  of  the 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  IQ3 

University  from  1798,  Vice-Chancellor  from  1817  and  Chancellor  from  1829. 
The  "Elements  of  Perspective,"  published  in  Albany  in  1813,  was  one  of  his 
many  useful  and  ingenious  essays. 

He  was  accepted  to  be  what  Dr.  T.  Romeyn  Beck,  his  eulogist,  described 
him,  "A  patriot,  a  soldier  and  a  Christian.'1'1 

He  married  a  sister  of  Colonel  Richard  Varick.  His  name  appears  on  the 
Half-Pay  Roll  as  Geographer. 

RICHARD  VARICK  DE  WITT,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1836. 
He  died  7th  of  February,  1868. 

RICHARD  VARICK  DE  WITT,  his  grandson  and  eldest  son  of  the  last, 
was  admitted  on  the  4th  of  July,  1868,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Standing  Com 
mittee. 


SAMUEL    DODGE" 

Ensign  zd  New  York  Regiment. 

Appointed  an  Ensign  in  Colonel  Weissenfels'  4th  Regiment,  New  York  Con 
tinental  Infantry,  in  1779.  Transferred  on  the  ist  of  January,  1781,  to  Colonel 
Van  Cortlandt's  26.  New  York  Regiment,  and  was  with  Lieutenant  Samuel 
Dodge  in  the  Fourth  Company. 

Honorably  discharged  on  the  30!  of  November,  1783.  His  name  appears 
on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


SAMUEL     DODGE 

Lieutenant  2d  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  27th  of  October,  1795. 

He  was  appointed  Second  Lieutenant  2d  Regiment,  New  York  Continental 
Infantry — Colonel  James  Clinton's — 27th  of  February,  1776,  and  served  through 
the  year.  On  the  reorganization  of  the  New  York  Continental  Line  for  the 
war  he  was,  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  assigned  to  the  5th  Regiment, 
New  York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Du  Bois'.  On  the  ist  of  October, 

*  He  and  his  namesake,  Lieutenant  Samuel  Dodge,  were  Associators  for  Independence,  one 
signing  at  Marbletovvn,  Ulster  County,  N.  Y.,  on  the  2gth  of  May.  1775,  and  the  other  in 
Armenia  Precinct,  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  on  the  8th  of  June  of  the  same  year. 


194  THF-    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

1777,  he  was  appointed  First  Lieutenant,  and  five  days  after  was  taken  prisoner 
on  the  assault  on  Forts  Clinton  and  Montgomery,  and  was  not  exchanged  until 
the  25th  of  October,  1780. 

On  the  ist  of  January,  1781,  he  was  transferred  to  the  2d  Regiment,  New 
York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt — with  which  he  served  until 
the  Regiment  went  on  waiting  orders,  8th  June,  1783.  Captain,  by  brevet,  on 
the  3oth  of  September,  1783,  when  he  was  honorably  discharged  the  service  on 
the  3d  of  November  following. 

From  the  time  of  his  transfer  to  the  2d  Regiment  to  the  close  of  the  war, 
he  commanded  its  fourth  company  in  the  absence  of  Captain  Benjamin  Walker, 
who  was  serving  on  detached  duty  as  an  Aid  to  Baron  Steuben  and  General 
Washington,  successively.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

HENRY  S.  DODGE  (Colonel),  his  only  son,  was  admitted  in  1806,  and 
elected  Secretary  in  1813.  He  was  a  Colonel  in  the  War  of  1812,  married  Jane 
Varick,  and  died  in  1826. 

JOHN  VARICK  DODGE  (Rev.),  his  grandson  and  son  of  the  last,  was 
elected  to  membership  in  1856. 

JOHN     DOUGHTY 

Captain  New  York  Artillery. 

Born  in  New  York,  1754.     Died,  unmarried,  on  the  i6th  of  September,  1826. 

He  was  the  son  of  Thomas  Doughty — a  merchant  of  New  York  City — of 

Scottish  descent,  and  Gertrude  Le  Roux.     Graduated  at  Columbia  College  in 

mo- 
Appointed   Captain- Lie  if  tenant  of  the   Eastern   Artillery  Company  of  New 
Jersey — Captain  Daniel  Neil's — on  the  Continental  Establishment,  pth  of  May, 
1776. 

Promoted  to  be  Captain,  by  order  of  General  Washington,  dated  at  Morris- 
town  on  the  ist  of  January,  1777,  in  the  2d  Regiment,  Continental  Corps  of 
Artillery  -  -Colonel  Lamb's — and  assigned  ist  of  March,  1777,  to  command  the 
New  York  State  Company  of  Artillery  in  that  regimemylate  Captain  Alexander 
Hamilton's. 

Promoted,  with  rank  of  Colonel,  Aide-de-Camp  to  General  Schuyler.  He 
commanded  his  company  continuously  throughout  the  war,  and  was  retained 
with  it  after  the  declaration  of  peace.  After  many  vicissitudes  of  incorpora 
tion,  it  is  still  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  being  now  Battery  F,  4th 
Regiment,  United  States  Artillery. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  195 

An  extract  from  a  report  made  by  him  to  Colonel  Lamb  of  the  achievement 
of  a  brother  officer  at  the  time  he  was  temporarily  commanding  his  regiment, 
and  now  in  the  Historical  Society's  Collection,  displays  a  generous  spirit  in 
appreciating  the  merit  of  the  service  of  another  : 

"  We  have  no  news  at  present,  and  have  remained  in  peace  and  quietness,  except  a  small 
alarm  we  had  a  few  days  ago,  which  I  dare  say  you  have  heard  of  before  this  ;  but  lest  you  should 
not,  as  it  is  a  credit  to  our  arms,  I  will  trespass  upon  your  patience  in  informing  you  of  it.  On 
the  igth  instant  the  whole  of  the  enemy's  horse,  supposed  to  be  about  two  hundred,  after  a 
circuitous  march  on  the  preceding  night,  attempted  to  surprize  at  day  break,  a  party  of  our  horse 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Lee,  which  forms  our  most  advanced  post,  but  unhappily  for 
these  bravadoes,  this  truly  good  officer  observing  their  intentions,  his  retreat  being  dangerous, 
betook  himself  with  the  small  party  then  with  him,  consisting  of  a  Lieutenant,  Sergeant, 
Corporal,  and  six  men,  to  a  large  store  house,  and  there  by  his  superior  address  and  bravery 
withstood  the  repeated  attacks  of  so  superior  a  number  ;  and  after  supporting  the  conflict  for 
some  time,  made  these  gentry  relinquish  their  plan,  and  retreat  with  disgrace  and  confusion, 
leaving  six  dead  on  the  field.  Captain  Lee's  loss  was  trifling,  none  but  his  Lieutenant  being 
wounded.  I  assure  you  nothing  can  reflect  more  honor  on  the  character  of  a  soldier  than  Captain 
Lee's  behaviour  on  this  occasion,  and  when  added  to  his  former  services  entitle  him  to  the  esteem 
of  every  other  soldier,  while  at  the  same  time,  it  teaches  us  young  soldiers  that  it  is  not  numbers 
that  ensure  us  success,  and  that  a  few  good  determined  fellows  will  execute  what  a  thousand 
dastardly  wret^jies  would  tremble  at  attempting. 

"  My  best  wishes  for  your  health  and  happiness,  that  they  may  always  attend  you.  I  beg 
you  will  make  my  best  respects  to  Colonel  Oswald. 

1 '  And  believe  me  with  the  greatest  respect 
"  Park  of  Artillery  2yth  January  1778.  "  Your  most  Obedt.  Servt. 

"  Colonel  JOHN  LAMB.  "JOHN  DOUGHTY." 

After  the  war  he  was  appointed  Major,  by  brevet,  on  the  3oth  of  Septem 
ber,  1783,  and  was  retained  in  the  United  States  service  with  his  company, 
commanding  the  garrison  at  West  Point  from  the  2oth  of  June,  1784,  to  the 
2oth  of  July,  1785,  with  the  rank  of  Major,  by  special  resolution  of  Congress, 
nth  of  November,  1784. 

Promoted  on  the  2oth  of  October,  1786,  to  be  Major  of  the  ist  United 
States  Infantry,  New  York  Quota,  to  rank  from  7th  of  August,  1786.  Trans 
ferred  on  the  same  day,  with  rank  of  Major,  in  the  United  States  Artillery  Bat 
talion,  and  credited  on  the  New  Jersey^s  Quota. 

Appointed  Colonel  of  Militia  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  ipth  September, 
1790.  Promoted  to  be  Lieutenant-Colonel,  2d  United  States  Infantry,  4th  of 
March,  1791,  as  a  reward  for  his  long  and  faithful  services.  This  appointment 
he  declined,  resigning  after  nearly  fifteen  years  continuous  service. 

At  President  Washington's  request,  he  again  served  on  Special  Inspection 
duty  on  the  Northern  Frontier  from  the  iyth  of  September  to  the  26th  of 
October,  1791. 

Appointed  Brigadier-General  of  the  2d  Division  of  the  New  Jersey  Militia 
on  the  5th  of  June,  1793. 


196  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Appointed  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  2d  Regiment  of  Artillerists  and  Engi 
neers  on  the  ist  of  June,  1798.  On  the  26th  of  May,  1800,  he  resigned  and 
was  honorably  discharged. 

He  had  taken  part  at  Trenton,  Assumpsink,  Princeton  ;  led  his  company  at 
Brandywine,  Germantown,  Monmouth,  Springfield  and  Yorktown. 

In  1785  he  commenced  the  erection  of  the  first  fort  built  in  Ohio,  which  he 
named  "  Fort  Harmer,"  after  his  old  commander  ;  he  also  located  and  built 
"  Fort  Washington,"  which  was  subsequently  changed  by  Governor  St.  Clair  to 
"  Cincinnati." 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1793,  he  associated,  upon  his  removal  to  Morristown, 
with  the  New  Jersey  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  represented  that 
district  in  the  New  Jersey  Legislature  ;  was  the  Judge  of  Morris  County,  and 
President  of  the  Academy.  He  was  also  prominent  in  the  reception  of  La 
Fayette  at  that  place  in  1825. 

His  homestead  on  the  Basking  Ridge  road,  in  which  he  died,  his  grave  and 
that  of  his  father  in  the  neighboring  cemetery,  recall  to  many  his  services  as 
well  as  his  soldierly  and  genial  presence.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay 
Roll. 

JOHN  DOUGHTY  OGDEN,  of  New  York,  his  godson,  whose  grand 
mother  was  a  sister  of  Captain  Doughty's  mother,  has  submitted  the  following  : 

"  On  the  conclusion  of  peace  he  was  ordered  to  our  western  territory  to  establish  forts  or 
blockhouses  on  the  Ohio  River  and  elsewhere,  and  to  select  sites  for  our  future  cities.  It  is 
melancholy  to  find  that  in  these  early  days  of  the  Republic  there  existed  corrupt  and  designing 
men  who  dared  to  insult  a  public  officer  by  offering  money  and  other  inducements  to  select  their 
lands  for  these  sites.  The  integrity  and  sagacity  of  Major  Doughty  has  been  fully  proved  by 
subsequent  events,  and  particularly  by  the  location  of  the  City  of  Cincinnati,  where  he  established 
a  fort  and  a  garrison.  Many  years  ago  I  met  in  Virginia  an  enthusiastic  citizen  of  that  city,  who 
assured  me  that  the  name  of  John  Doughty  was  still  remembered  and  venerated  in  that  great 
capital. 

"  In  the  course  of  this  western  expedition,  Major  Doughty  had  occasion  to  survey  the 
Tennessee  River,  and  while  in  a  barge  manned  by  sixteen  United  States  soldiers,  he  was 
surrounded  and  attacked  by  a  large  force  of  Indians  in  canoes.  Seated  in  the  stern  of  his  boat 
he  kept  up  a  constant  fire  against  the  enemy,  the  muskets  or  rifles  being  reloaded  and  handed  to 
him  by  his  men.  When  eleven  out  of  the  sixteen  soldiers  had  been  killed  or  disabled,  matters 
began  to  look  serious,  and  the  Major  thought  the  only  thing  to  be  done  was  to  put  an  end  to  the 
Indian  Chief.  Standing  up,  he  'took  an  aim,'  to  use  his  own  words,  'as  cool  and  deliberate 
as  if  he  had  been  shooting  a  robin.'  The  shot  happily  was  successful^  the  Chief  tan  fell  and  the 
Indians  fled.  With  his  diminished  crew  it  was  impossible  to  make  any  headway  against  the 
current  of  the  rivers,  and  he  floated  down  the  Tennessee  and  Mississippi  until  he  reached  the 
Spanish  post  in  Louisiana. 

"  He  threw  himself  upon  the  hospitality  of  the  commandant  of  the  garrison,  by  whom  he 
was  kindly  entertained  and  furnished  with  an  escort  to  his  own  country. 

"  His  protracted  absence  had  caused  the  greatest  anxiety  to  his  relatives  and  friends,  as  well 
as  the  Government.  A  letter  addressed  to  him  by  General  Knox,  Secretary  of  War,  congratulating 
him  on  his  safe  and  unexpected  return,  attests  the  high  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  that 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  IQ7 

Department.  A  short  time  after,  he  was  appointed  by  General  Washington,  Colonel  of  a  new 
regiment  of  Infantry  to  consist  of  three  Battalions,  '  in  consideration,'  as  General  Knox  writes, 
'  of  his  long  and  valuable  services.'  " 


HENRY     DU     BOIS 

Captain  2d  Neia>  York  Regiment. 

Born  26th  July,  1755.     Died  on  the  25th  of  May,  1794. 

He  was  the  youngest  son  of  Elias  Du  Boisf  and  Susannah  Vandenburgh,  of 
Ulster  County,  and  married  Nellie  Ter  Bush  on  the  24th  of  June,  1780. 

Appointed,  i4th  of  December,  1776,  Adjutant  of  the  5th  Regiment,  New 
York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Lewis  Du  Bois' — with  rank  of  Lieutenant 
from  2ist  of  November,  1776. 

On  the  ist  of  September,  1778,  he  was  promoted  to  be  Captain- Lieutenant 
in  the  same.  Transferred,  ist  of  January,  1781,  to  the  2d  Regiment,  New 
York  Continer.'al  Infantry — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt — and  soon  after  promoted 
to  Captain  in  the  same. 

Was  honorably  discharged,  at  his  own  request,  4th  of  November,  1782. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


*  This  position  he  did  not  long  hold,  preferring,  when  peace  was  attained,  like  Cincinnatus,  to  retire  to  his  own 
country  home. 

The  remaining  portion  of  his  life  was  spent  in  agricultural  pursuits,  in  the  cultivation  of  literature,  and  in  the 
exercise  of  a  generous  hospitality.  His  younger  brother  Bartholomew  had  many  years  before  been  lost  at  sea. 
Two  other  brothers  were  officers  in  the  British  Army.  They  never  met  upon  the  field,  but  after  the  peace  he 
performed  many  kind  offices  for  the  unfortunate  Loyalists.  They  embarked  for  Nova  Scotia,  but  perished  by  ship 
wreck  at  Halifax.  A  maiden  sister  survived  him  six  years,  when  his  family  became  extinct. 

The  property  of  General  Doughty  consisted  of  about  four  hundred  acres  of  land  lying  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Basking  Ridge  road,  beginning  at  Morristown  and  extending  nearly  a  mile  to  the  southwest.  He  left  by  will  a 
house  and  land  to  each  of  his  three  slaves,  whom  he  had  previously  manumitted.  Many  years  before  his  death  he 
gave  to  the  town  an  avenue  or  street  on  the  eastern  boundary  of  his  estate,  extending  from  Basking  Ridge  road  to 
and  beyond  the  top  of  the  hill,  now  known  as  McCullough  Avenue. 

\  Governor  Clinton  writes  as  follows  of  the  men  of  this  family  : 

"  PEEKSKILL,  igth  November,  1876. — James  Du  Bois,  son  of  Matthew  Du  Bois  of  New  Windsor  was  named  as 
a  Second  Lieutenant  in  Du  Bois'  Regiment.  He  had  a  brother  another  Lewis  Du  Bois  a  Captain  in  the  service 
last  year  who  behaved  well  and  is  since  dead.  I  believe  it  would  answer  to  appoint  him.  The  men  who  were  with 
his  brother  would  incline  to  enlist  with  him.  Many  other  young  fellows  in  the  country  may  be  found  who  will 
answer  and  incline  to  serve,  but  I  don't  at  present  recollect  their  names.'' 

The  officer  referred  to  as  dead  was  in  Colonel  James  Clinton's  Regiment.  James  Du  Bois  received  the  com 
mission  applied  for  as  Second  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  Gansevoort's  Regiment.  David  Du  Bois  became  First 
Captain  in  Colonel  Du  Bois'  Regiment,  and  another,  Major  Lewis  Du  Bois,  appears  in  service  in  177,  all  from 
Ulster  County. 


198  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

EDWARD    DUNSCOMB 

Captain  ^th  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  in  New  York  City,  23d  of  May,  1754.     Died  i3th  of  November,  1814. 

He  was  the  son  of  Daniel  Dunscomb,  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress 
of  New  York,  and  graduated  at  Kings  College  in  1774.  Residing  in  New 
York  City  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution,  he  became  a  member  of  an 
independent  uniform  militia  company,  known  as  the  "  Fusileers." 

On  the  29th  of  January,  1775,  he  volunteered  his  services  with  his  com 
pany,  which,  with  other  independent  uniformed  militia  organizations,  was 
formed  into  a  regiment,  known  as  the  ist  Battalion  of  the  Independent  Com 
panies,  under  the  command  of  Colonel  John  Lasher.  Appointed  Lieutenant,  in 
February,  1776,  when  his  regiment  was  mustered  into  the  Continental  Service. 

His  regiment  was  first  stationed  at  Bayard's  Hill,  a  commanding  site  in  the 
City  of  New  York,  west  of  the  Bowery,  where  Grand  and  Mulberry  Streets 
intersect,  and  where  they  began  the  erection  of  a  redoubt  on  the  ist  of  March, 
1776,  and  continued  in  its  occupation  until  relieved  on  the  i6th  of  May  follow 
ing,  with  thanks  for  their  masterly  execution  of  that  work  by  the  Commander- 
in-Chief. 

On  the  22d  of  August  of  that  year  the  regiment  crossed  the  East  River  to 
Brooklyn  Heights,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  26th,  Lieutenant  Dunscomb  was 
one  of  a  party  of  five  officers,  sent  by  Major-General  Sullivan,  to  patrol  the 
Jamaica  Pass,  which  duty  was  performed  so  incautiously  in  the  face  of  an 
enemy,  that  all  were  taken  prisoners  by  the  advance  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton's 
flanking  column.  Having  been  taken  before  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  Lieutenant 
Dunscomb  was  so  closely  interrogated  as  to  cause  him  to  indignantly  resent 
the  effort  "  as  offensive  to  an  officer."  He  was  confined  in  a  prison  ship,  where 
he  fell  sick,  and  was  paroled  to  Flatbush,  L.  I.,  where  many  American  officers 
were  confined,  and  remained  for  twenty-two  months. 

Meanwhile,  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  on  the  petition  of  his  brother 
officers,  then  in  camp  at  White  Plains,  who  had  not  forgotten  him,  he  was 
appointed  a  First  Lieutenant  in  the  4th  Regiment  of  the  New  York  Continental 
Infantry — Colonel  H.  B.  Livingston. 

Promoted  to  Captain- Lieutenant,  23d  of  April,  1778,  and  to  Captain  in  1780, 
and  on  the  reduction,  by  concentration,  of  the  New  York  Line,  ist  of  January, 
1781,  he  was  rendered  Supernumerary  by  jilniority,  and  honorably  retired. 

After  the  adoption  of  the  United  States  Constitution,  he  became  Clerk  of 
the  United  States  District  Court,  and  an  Examiner  in  Chancery.  He  was  also 
a  Vestryman  of  Trinity  Church,  New  York,  a  Trustee  of  Columbia  College 


Lieut.  JAMES     FAIRLIE 


: 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  199 

from  1795  to  1814,  and  in  1810  he  was  elected  Sheriff  of  New  York  City.     His 
name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 

DANIEL  E.  DUNSCOMB,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1815,  elected 
Secretary  of  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  in  1816,  and  died 
on  the  3d  of  December,  1850. 

JOHN   ELLIOTT 

Surgeon's  Mate  \st  New  York  Regiment. 

He  was  recommended  by  Surgeon  Hunloke  Woodruff  on  the  2oth  of  April, 
1777,  in  a  communication  dated  at  Fort  Constitution,  as  qualified  to  act  as 
Surgeons  Mate  to  the  3d  Regiment,  New  York  Continental  Infantry,  which 
was  endorsed  by  its  Lieutenant-Colonel,  Marinus  Willett,  in  a  letter  to  the  Com 
mittee  of  Arrangements.  He  was  so  appointed,  and  on  the  ist  of  January, 
1781,  transferred  to  the  ist  Regiment,  New  York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel 
Van  Schaick. 

Honorably  discharged  the  service  on  the  3d  of  November,  1783.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

ANDREW    ENGLIS 

Captain- Lieutenant  \st  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

Appointed  a  Lieutenant  in  the  i2th  Regiment,  Massachusetts  Continental 
Infantry,  on  the  ist  of  January,  1777.  Promoted  to  be  Captain- Lieutenant  in 
1780,  and  transferred  to  the  ist  Regiment,  Massachusetts  Continental  Infantry 
— Colonel  Joseph  Vose's — on  the  ist  of  January,  1781. 

Honorably  retired  ist  of  January,  1783.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- 
Pay  Roll. 

JAMES    FAIRLIE 

Lieutenant  zd  New  York  Regiment  and  Aide-de-Camp. 

The  following  sketch  furnished  by  Mr.  Robert  Tyler. 

Born  in  New  York  City  in  1757.     Died  loth  of  October,  1830. 

His  father,  James  Fairlie,  was  a  Havana  merchant  captain  and  the  son  of 
a  Scotch  m-idshipman  who  settled  in  America  early  in  the  last  century.  His 
mother,  Phoebe  Mitchell,  was  a  Quaker  lady  of  Long  Island. 


2OO  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

In  1776,  at  nineteen,  he  was  commissioned  an  Ensign  in  Colonel  McDougall's 
Regiment,  and  on  that  officer's  recommendation,  on  the  reorganization  of  the 
army,  was  retained  as  a  Second  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's,  serving 
with  it  at  Saratoga.  Baron  Steuben,  in  1778,  selected  him  as  one  of  his  Aides, 
and  he  was  with  him  at  Monmouth  on  the  28th  of  June,  afterward  accompany 
ing  him  to  Virginia.* 

The  following  is  from  Saffell's  Records  of  the  Revolutionary  War  : 

"  CHESTERFIELD  COURT  HOUSE  May  3 — 1781. 

"  SIR  :  You  will  take  under  your  charge  five  wagons,  Containing  four  hundred,  Stand  of 
Arms,  Complete  with  bayonets  &c.,  two  hundred  leather  cartridges,  two  hundred  tin  canisters, 
and  two  thousand  flints,  and  you  will  proceed  immediately  to  Suffolk.  Immediately  on  your 
arrival,  you  will  acquaint  General  Muhlenburgh  of  it.  You  will  not  be  any  means  deliver  any  of 
the  above  articles  without  General  Muhlenburgh's  particular  order.  You  will  set  out  from  this 
place  this  evening,  or  tomorrow  morning  very  early,  so  that  you  may  arrive  at  Suffolk  by  the 
8th  instant. 

"  By  order  of  Major-Genera  I  Steuben 

"  WM.  PORTER,  C.  M.  Stores.  "JAMES  FAIRLIE,  Aide  de  Camp" 

When  the  war  ended  he  was  relieved  from  the  attendant  distress  which 
followed  many  officers  without  means  of  maintenance. 

The  kind-hearted  Baron  offered  it,  in  opening  a  home  to  him  and  employ 
ing  his  pen  in  his  palace  of  logs,  styled  "  The  Louvre,'"  erected  on  his  granted 
lands  in  Western  New  York.  There,  with  Walker,  North  and  other  visiting 
veterans,  he  participated  in  that  hospitable  "  Bachelor's  Hall "  until  new  duties 
successively  sought  him. 

He  was  appointed  the  Claim  Agent  for  the  State  of  New  York,  and  a 
member  of  its  Legislature  in  1798  and  1808  ;  a  Presidential  Elector  in  1804 
and  1816  ;  an  Alderman  of  New  York  City,  and  one  of  the  Delegates  to  the 
memorable  State  Constitutional  Convention  of  1821,  and  served  for  many  years 
as  Clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  this  State.  Jefferson  conferred  upon  him 
the  honorary  position  of  Commissioner  in  Bankruptcy,  and  Madison  offered 
him  the  position  of  Adjutant-General  in  the  War  of  1812. 

Wrhen  he  died,  at  41  Cortlandt  Street.  New  York  City,  his  loss  was  con 
sidered  a  public  one,  and  his  funeral  was  attended  by  the  New  York  Cincinnati 
Society,  he  having  acted  as  its  Secretary  in  1784. 

Irving  records  how  Washington  fell  back  in  a  boat  on  the  Hudson  when 
enjoying  one  of  his  pleasantries. 

Count  Pulaski,  speaking  of  him  with  others,  in  a  letter  to  Franklin  in  1778, 
says : 

"  But  there  is  a  younger  class,  who  are  principally  on  the  staff,  of  an  equal  cast  of  mind,  and 
of  superior  education,  having  generally  just  left  their  institutions  of  learning,  or  the  early  course 

*  The  Baron's  manuscript  correspondence  in  the  Collections  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society  shows  how 
Virginia  was,  in  1781,  little  affected  by  the  war,  until  invaded  by  Arnold  with  twelve  hundred  men. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  2OI 

of  professional  life,  to  join  the  army.  There  are  some  elegant  young  men  amongst  these. 
Major  Fairlie,  I  would  mention  as  one  of  them.  He  is  quite  young — he  was  then  twenty-one — 
but  for  sagacity,  wit,  and  knowledge  of  his  profession,  he  has  no  superior.  Playful  and  satirical 
or  instructive,  as  he  varies  from  one  subject  to  another.  I  have  taken  much  delight  in  his 
society,  and  think  he  has  given  me  more  instruction  in  pronouncing  the  English  language,  than 
any  other  officer  I  have  met  with.  This  is  probably  owing  to  my  enjoying  his  Society  so  much." 

Baron  Steuben,  when  he  divided  his  estate  in  Oneida  amongst  his  Aides, 
discovered  that  Fairlie  had  prematurely  exchanged  his  share  with  North  for  a 
set  of  Sevres,  which  had  attracted  his  fancy,  the  stormy  veteran  thereupon 
withdrew  his  affection  and  cut  him  off. 

By  his  marriage  with  Maria,  daughter  of  Chief- Justice  Yates,  he  had  two 
sons,  who  died  unmarried.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

JOHN  TYLER  COOPER,  his  great  grandson,  and  son  of  Thomas  Cooper, 
the  tragedian,  was  admitted  on  the  4th  of  July,  1879,  in  his  right. 


EPHRAIM    FENNO 

Captain- Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  2d  Regiment,  Continental  Corps  of 
Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's — on  the  ist  of  January,  1777. 

Promoted  to  be  First  Lieutenant  of  the  same  on  the  i3th  of  September. 
1778,  and  Captain-Lieutenant  on  the  aoth  of  September,  1779. 

Honorably  discharged,  with  a  portion  of  his  regiment,  ist  of  January,  1784, 
having  served  throughout  the  war. 

He  died  unmarried.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll  as  Lieutenant 
and  Quartermaster  of  Massachusetts. 


NICHOLAS    FISH 

Major  and  Brigade  Inspector  zd  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  in  New  York  City  on  the  a8th  of  August,  1758.  Died  there  on  the 
2oth  of  June,  1833. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  entered  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  but  soon  left  it 
to  study  law  in  the  office  of  John  Morin  Scott. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  Fusileers,  an  independent  uniformed 
company  of  New  York  City  Militia  in  1775,  consolidated  into  Colonel  John 
Lasher's  Regiment  as  the  ist  New  York  Independent  Battalion  of  Volunteers 


202  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

On  Monday,  the  2gth  of  January,  1776,  they  voted  to  volunteer  in  the  United 
States  Service  as  Minute  Men,  and  early  in  February  were  placed  on  duty  on 
Bayard's  Hill. 

During  the  Spring  of  1776  he  was  appointed  Aide-de-Camp  to  Brigadier- 
General 'John  Morin  Scott,  and  on  the  following  2ist  of  June,  Major  of  Brigade. 
He  was  present  at  the  Battle  of  Long  Island,  in  the  engagement  at  Harlem 
Heights  and  at  the  Battle  of  White  Plains. 

Brigadier-General  Scott,  on  the  5th  of  November,  1776,  addressed  a  com 
munication  to  the  New  York  Convention,  presenting  Major  Fish's  name  for 
appointment. 

"  I  can  honestly  recommend  him  as  well  qualified  for  that  rank.  This  I  am  sure  of,  there 
is  not  a  better  brigade  Major  in  the  army.  Indeed  I  have  not  seen  one  who  can  do  the  duties  of 
the  grand  parade  so  well  as  he,  except  Major  Henley,  and  I  think  he  does  not  exceed  him.  In 
other  departments  of  his  present  appointment  he  gives  me  great  satisfaction  " 

This  recommendation  was  supplemented  by  one  from  Colonel  H.  B.  Living 
ston  of  the  4th  Regiment,  New  York  Continental  Infantry — dated  at  Peekskill, 
24th  of  November,  1776 — asking  that  he  be  appointed  Major  in  his  regiment. 
He  was,  however,  appointed  Major  of  the  2d  Regiment,  New  York  Continental 
Infantry — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt — to  date  from  2ist  of  November,  1776. 

He  was  with  his  regiment  in  the  battles  of  Bemis'  Heights  and  Schuyler- 
ville,  and  pursuant  to  General  Washington's  orders — dated  Army  Headquarters, 
Valley  Forge,  2gth  March,  1778 — was  detailed  as  the  Brigade  Inspector  of 
Brigadier-General  Enoch  Poor's  command,  and  in  1778  Division-Inspector  under 
Baron  Steuben.  •  At  the  Battle  of  Monmouth  he  commanded  a  corps  of  light 
infantry,  and  subsequently  accompanied  General  Sullivan's  campaign  against 
the  Six  Nations,  and  by  his  order — dated  Tioga,  23d  of  August,  1779 — was 
detailed  as  the  Brigade  Inspector. 

Under  La  Fayette  he  served  in  the  light  infantry  during  the  campaign  of 
1780,  marching  with  his  regiment  to  Virginia,  and  taking  an  active  part  with 
Hamilton's  corps  in  the  engagements  which  resulted  in  the  surrender  of  Lord 
Cornwallis  at  Yorktown  on  the  igth  of  October,  1781. 

In  1782  he  was  with  the  main  army,  under  General  Washington  at  Ver- 
planck's  Point,  West  Point,  and  at  the  Cantonments  near  New  Windsor,  until 
the  close  of  the  war. 

He  possessed,  in  a  high  degree,  the  confidence  of  Washington,  Schuyler, 
La  Fayette  and  Hamilton,  and  with  the  army  the  character  of  an  excellent 
disciplinarian  and  a  gallant  soldier. 

Appointed  Adjutant- General  of  the  State  of  New  York  in  April,  1786. 

When  our  relations  with  France  threatened  a  collision,  Washington,  again 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  army,  was  overwhelmed  with  applications  from  old 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  203 

officers  for  positions,  and  writing  to  Knox  (then   Secretary  of  War),  on  the 
1 9th  of  August,  1792  : 

"  Not  having  thought  of  any  character  more  eligible  for  Adjutant-General  than  Major 
Fish,  I  request  that  he  may  be  sounded  or  even  directly  applied  to.  Should  he  be  indisposed  to 
the  office  some  other  must  be  appointed  without  delay." 

In  1794  he  received  an  additional  evidence  of  Washington's  appreciation, 
the  supervision  of  the  revenue.  In  New  York  he  was  elected  an  Alderman 
from  1806  to  1817,  and  was  elected  the  President  of  the  Cincinnati  Society  of 
New  York  in  the  years  1797  and  1805.  He  married  Elizabeth  Stuyvesant,  by 
whom  he  had  five  children.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

HAMILTON  FISH*  (Honorable],  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1834. 
He  was  born  in  the  City  of  New  York,  3d  August,  1808.  Graduated  at  Colum 
bia  College  in  1827.  After  reading  law  in  the  office  of  Peter  Augustus  Jay,  he 
was,  in  1830,  admitted  to  the  bar.  Elected  to  the  State  Legislature  in  1837, 
and  a  Member  of  Congress  from  1843  to  1845  '•>  Lieutenant-Governor  of  New 
York  from  1847  to  ^49,  and  Governor  from  1849  to  1851  ;  United  States 
Senator  from  1851  to  1857,  and  Secretary  of  State,  March  nth,  1869,  to 
1877.  He  also  held  other  offices  of  trust:  President  of  the  Union  Defence 
Committee,  and  the  Joint  High  Commission  to  adjust  the  Alabama,  Fisheries 
and  Boundary  Claims  with  Great  Britain,  and  Plenipotentiary  to  sign  the 
treaty  in  1871  ;  President  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  one  of  the 
Trustees  of  Columbia  College,  the  Astor  and  Lenox  Libraries,  the  Peabody 
Fund,  and  since  1854  the  President-General  and  since  1855  the  President 
of  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati.  Received  from  Columbia 
in  1850,  from  Union  in  1870  and  from  Harvard  in  1871,  the  honorary  degree  of 
LL.D. 


GEORGE  FLEMING 

Captain  New  York  Artillery. 

Died  2d  of  October,  1822. 

Appointed  First  Lieutenant  in  Captain  Sebastian  Bauman's  Company  of  the 
New  York  Artillery  on  the  i6th  of  April,  1776,  and  on  the  i9th  altached  to 
Colonel  Henry  Knox's  Regiment. 


*Mr.  Stuyvesant  Le  Roy  and  Mr.  John  Neilson,  grandsons,  were  admitted  in  1860  as  life 
members  under  the  resolution  of  1857. 


204  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Promoted  to  be  Captain- Lieutenant \  ist  of  January,  1777,  upon  the  transfer 
of  his  company  to  the  2d  Regiment,  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel 
Lamb's — and  after  the  discharge  of  the  remainder,  by  expiration  of  enlistment, 
was  appointed  Captain  in  that  regiment  on  the  pth  of  November,  1778,  vice 
Bauman  promoted.  His  company  was  mounted  as  light  artillery  and  assigned 
to  the  2d  Brigade  of  the  Light  Infantry  Division  as  a  light  battery,  and  in 
August,  1780,  to  the  division  under  La  Fayette.  He  rejoined  the  Artillery 
Park,  near  New  Windsor,  on  the  ist  of  December,  1780,  and  was  again  assigned 
with  his  command  to  the  Light  Infantry  Division,  in  February,  1781. 

La  Fayette  presented  him  on  the  ist  of  September,  1780,  while  in  camp 
at  Dobbs  Ferry,  with  a  pair  of  epaulettes  a  cockade  and  sword,  as  a  testimony 
of  appreciation  of  his  services. 

In  July,  1779,  he  was  sent  with  a  flag  of  truce  to  Stony  Point,  then  in 
possession  of  the  British. 

Appointed  Major,  by  brevet,  on  the  3oth  of  September,  1783,  and  honorably 
discharged  with  his  regiment  on  the  3d  of  November  following.  Appointed 
Military  Storekeeper  at  West  Point  on  the  22d  of  March,  1787.  He  remained 
in  the  service  until  1812.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


DOUW    T.    FONDEY* 

Ensign  \st  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  at  Ballstown,  N.  Y. 

Appointed  Ensign  of  the  Light  Infantry  Company  of  the  ist  New  York 
Regiment — Colonel  Van  Schaick's — and  the  Adjutant  of  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Alexander  Hamilton's  Light  Infantry  Corps  on  the  5th  of  August,  1781.  His 
name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


JOHN    FONDEYt 

j  > 

Ensign  ist  New  York  Regiment. 

Was  an  Ensign  in  the  Third  Company  of  the  ist  New  York  Regiment — 
Colonel  Van  Schaick's.     His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


*  The  family  name  is  Fonda.     Probably  the   son   of   Isaac   D.  Fonda  and   Susanna  De  Forest,  baptized  6th  of 

August,  1759. 

f  Probably  a  brother  of  the  last,  baptized  6th  of  April,  1761,  and  married  to  Cornelia  Hunn. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  205 

JOHN  FONDEY  (M.D.),  grandson,  was  elected  to  membership  in  1859, 
but  failed  to  qualify  by  signing  the  Institution.  He  had  an  elder  brother, 
William  Hunn  Fondey,  who  married  Harriet  Wilson. 


JOSEPH   FOOT 

Lieutenant  ist  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

Appointed  an  Ensign  in  the  i2th  Massachusetts  Regiment — Colonel  Ebenezer 
Sprout's.  Promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  of  the  ist  Massachusetts  Regiment  on  the 
6th  of  March,  1779. 

He  was  buried  by  the  Society  in  1807. 

THEODOSIUS   FOWLER 

Captain  zd  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  at  East  Chester,  Westchester  County,  N.  Y.,  on  the  nth  of  May,  1753. 
Died  on  the  i2th  of  October,  1841. 

The  following  was  written  by  him  for  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the 
Cincinnati,  of  which  he  was  Treasurer  in  1794  and  from  1820  until  his  decease: 

"  I  was  appointed  the  eldest  Ensign  in  the  New  York  Line,  either  in  February  or  March, 
1776,  in  the  ist  New  York  Regiment,  commanded  by  General  Alexander  McDougall  ;  was  pro 
moted  to  a  Second  Lieutenantcy  in  the  same  regiment  on  the  loth  of  August,  1776  ;  to  be  First 
Lieutenant  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  in  the  Fourth  Battalion  of  the  New  York  forces  of 
Continental  Troops  ;  and  was  promoted  to  be  a  Captain  in  the  said  regiment  on  the  28th  of 
June,  1778,  my  commission  bearing  date  April  23d,  1778. 

"  In  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1780,  or  beginning  of  1781,  I  was  transferred  to  the  2d  New 
York  Regiment,  where  I  was  continued  to  the  end  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution  with  the  rank  of 
Captain. 

"  During  the  whole  period  of  my  service  I  was  not  absent  fifty  days  from  the  army,  either  in 
Summer  or  Winter. 

"  In  1776,  while  in  the  ist  New  York  Regiment,  I  was  at  the  Battle  of  Long  Island,  and 
our  regiment  was  one  of  the  last  which  retreated  from  the  Island.  In  the  next  campaign  I  was 
in  the  army  of  Gates,  and  attached  to  the  brigade  of  General  Poor,  in  the  left  wing  of  the  army, 
which  was  under  the  immediate  command  of  General  Arnold,  and  was  in  both  battles  previous  to 
the  capture  of  Burgoyne. 

"  After  this  our  brigade  was  ordered  to  join  General  Washington,  at  White  Marsh,  where 
the  army  went  into  Winter  quarters  at  Valley  Forge  ;  what  it  there  suffered  is  too  well  known  to 
need  any  description  from  my  pen. 

"The  next  campaign  the  British  left  Philadelphia.  I  was  attached  to  the  light  infantry 
regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Cilley,  and  acted  as  Adjutant  during  our  pursuit  of  the  enemy  in 
their  retreat  through  Jersey,  until  we  overtook  them  at  Monmouth. 

"  In  that  battle  our  regiment  encountered  the  42d  Highlanders  and  2d  Battalion  of  British 
Guards  ;  making  but  two  fires  we  went  through  their  line  with  the  bayonet,  and  made  tremendous 
slaughter.  Colonels  Dearborn  and  Willett,  if  alive,  can  testify  to  this  fact. 


206  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

"After  this  the  army  moved  on  to  White  Plains,  where  I  was  attached  to  a  regiment  of 
light  infantry,  commanded  by  Colonel  Richard  Butler.  During  this  period  we  had  a  little  affair 
with  a  Hessian  corps  of  horse  and  foot,  at  Uobb's  Ferry,  where  we  surprised  them  early  in  the 
morning.  It  was  so  arranged  that  my  company  or  platoon  was  stationed  below  thirty  or  forty  of 
the  enemy,  whom  I  completely  stopped  by  charging  bayonets,  and  killed  and  took  prisoners  more 
than  my  command.  I  was  highly  complimented  by  Colonel  Butler  on  this  occasion.  The  ensuing 
Winter  the  New  York  troops  were  chiefly  ordered  up  on  the  Mohawk  River  ;  the  4th  New  York 
Regiment,  to  which  I  belonged,  was  stationed  at  Canajoharie. 

"  Early  in  the  Spring  I,  then  commanding  a  company  of  light  infantry,  was  ordered  to  join 
a  corps  at  Fort  Schuyler,  which  was  then  commanded  by  Colonels  Van  Schaick  and  Willett,  for 
the  purpose  of  pursuing  an  expedition  against  the  Onondaga  Nation.  We  completely  surprised 
them,  killed  many  and  took  upward  of  thirty  prisoners.  This  was  as  severe  service  as  any  I 
encountered  during  the  war,  for  the  number  of  days  ;  it  was  the  middle  of  April,  1779,  the  Winter 
was  just  breaking  up,  and  the  snow  still  covered  the  ground. 

' '  On  our  return  to  quarters  at  Canajoharie  our  regiment,  together  with  several  other  regi 
ments  which  joined  us  at  that  place,  was  put  under  the  command  of  General  James  Clinton. 
This  army,  consisting  of  about  two  thousand  five  hundred  men,  left  the  Mohawk  with  two 
hundred  bateaux,  and  conveyed  them  across  the  country  to  Otsego  Lake.  The  outlet  of  this 
lake  we  dammed,  and  remained  there  about  six  weeks.  This  country  was  then  an  entire 
wilderness. 

"  From  this  place  we  proceeded  down  the  Susquehanna  River  with  our  two  hundred  boats, 
loaded  with  men  and  provisions,  with  the  exception  of  the  light  infantry  and  rifle  corps,  which, 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  William  Butler,  acted  as  a  guard  to  the  boats.  I  was  with  the 
light  infantry,  which  marched  on  the  right  flank,  until  we  arrived  at  Tioga  River,  a  branch  of 
the  Susquehanna  ;  here  we  met  with  General  Sullivan  with  an  army  equal  to  our  own,  who  took 
the  command  of  the  whole.  From  this  we  proceeded  through  the  Indian  country,  after  a  battle 
fought  at  Newtown,  where  we  defeated  the  whole  of  the  Six  Nations,  with  some  British  troops. 

"  After  this  battle  there  was  a  report  from  the  Commissary  that  the  provisions  were  short  to 
complete  the  expedition,  in  consequence  of  which  the  army  agreed  unanimously  to  live  on  short 
allowance,  which  we  did  for  forty  days,  by  which  means  the  campaign  was  completed  by  destroy 
ing  the  Indian  country  to  Seneca  town,  beyond  the  Genesee  River. 

"  During  this  expedition  the  army  suffered  very  much.  When  we  returned  to  the  Susque 
hanna  my  First  Lieutenant,  who  was  left  there,  and  with  whom  I  had  served  three  campaigns 
before,  did  not  recognize  me,  so  much  was  I  reduced. 

"  The  Winter  of  1779-80  the  army  under  General  Washington  cantoned  back  of  Morristown, 
New  Jersey,  and  suffered  much  from  the  want  of  provisions. 

''  In  the  campaign  of  1780  I  commanded  a  light  infantry  company,  and  served  under  General 
La  Fayette.  In  this  year  the  New  York  Line  of  five  regiments  was  reduced  to  two,  the  first 
commanded  by  Colonel  Van  Schaick,  and  the  second  by  General  Van  Courtlandt  ;  to  the  latter  of 
which  I  was  attached,  and  served  in  it  the  residue  of  the  war. 

"  During  the  Winter  of  1780-81  our  regiment  was  stationed  at  Fort  Schuyler.  In  the 
September  of  1781  the  two  New  York  regiments  were  ordered  down  to  Virginia,  and  aided  at 
Yorktown  in  capturing  the  British  Army  under  C'ornwallis.  The  New  York  troops  escorted  the 
last  of  the  British  troops  to  Fredericksburg  ;  from  thence  we  proceeded  to  New  Jersey,  and  it 
was  not  until  January,  1782,  that  we  arrived  at  our  ground  for  cantonment,  on  the  Highlands  or 
mountains  back  of  Pompton,  for  Winter  quarters.  This  was  a  very  severe  Winter  until  February. 

"  The  ensuing  campaign  the  army  under  General  Washington  remained  chiefly  at  Verplanck's 
Point,  and  late  in  the  Fall  the  whole  army  went  into  Winter  quarters,  and  cantoned  back  of  New 
Windsor  and  Newburgh.  There  the  army  was  disbanded,  and  I  with  the  rest,  in  the  Summer  of 
1783-  THEOD.  FOWLER." 

His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

THEODOSIUS  OLIVER  FOWLER,  his  only  son,  was  admitted  in  1843, 
and  died  in  1861,  having  been  Assistant  Treasurer  in  1850. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  207 

THEODOSIUS  AUGUSTUS  FOWLER,  grandson  and   son   of  the  last 
was  admitted  in  1862.     He  died  without  male  issue  in  1882. 

DE  GRASSE  BOSTWICK  FOWLER,  grandson  and  brother  of  the  last, 
was  admitted  in  1885. 


JOSEPH   FR1LICK 

Lieutenant    2d    New    York   Regiment. 

Appointed  Lieutenant  of  the  Seventh  Company  2d  New  York  Regiment — 
Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's. 

Honorably  discharged  the  service,  with  his  regiment,  on  the  3d  of  Novem 
ber,  1783.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half  Pay  Roll. 


JOHN  FURMAN 

Lieutenant  \st  New  York  Regiment. 

He  appears  to  have  been  prominent  as  an  early  patriot  in  Dutchess  County, 
being  a  signer,  and  one  of  those  selected  to  procure  signatures  to  "  the  Asso 
ciation,"  to  prepare  for  the  contest  through  which  he  served. 

Was  commissioned  as  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  Third  Company  of  the  5th 
New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Lewis  Du  Bois — on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776. 
Taken  prisoner  at  Fort  Montgomery  on  the  6th  of  October,  1777,  being 
then  a  Lieutenant  of  the  Fifth  Company  of  the  ist  New  York  Regiment — Van 
Schaick's. 

He  served  through  the  war,  and  at  its  close  was  honorably  discharged  the 
service,  with  his  regiment,  on  the  3d  of  November,  1783.  His  name  appears 
on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

DANIEL  GANO 

Captain- Lieutenant   New  York   Artillery. 

Born  in  North  Carolina  on  the  nth  of  November,  1758. 
He  was  the  second  son  of  the  Reverend  John  Gano,  the  Brigade  Chaplain, 
Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  of  the   ist  Regiment  New  York  Continental 
Infantry — Colonel  McDougall's — on  the  28th  of  June,  1775,  and  served  in  the 


208  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Canada  Campaign  \Kjth  it.  Recommended  to  the  New  York  Convention  by 
Captain  Richard  Varick  on  the  28th  of  October,  1776,  for  continuance  in  the 
army  on  its  reorganization. 

Lieutenant  Pelton,  in  his  report,  alludes  to  him  as  follows  : 

"  AT  '  POINT  LEVI.' — Battery  began  to  play  3d  April,  four  12  pounders,  now  three,  a  Bomb 
Battery  on  Heights  of  Abraham,  snow  seven  feet  deep.  Mott  well.  Hughes  with  him.  Gano 
well.  Goforth  very  fat,  at  Three  Rivers,— not  more  than  a  Company  there  in  the  Regiment,— 
Goforth  more  respected  and  feared  than  any  man  there.  Heard  at  Camp  that  Troops  left  Boston 
I4th  April— Canadians  expect  vessels  from  4th  to  loth  May,  this  year  soth  May.  That  General 
Schuyler  is  driving  with  great  spirit,  has  seen  nothing  like  him.  Nicholson  at  Quebec  when  he 
came  away— Arnold  recruiting,  Clinton  well.  Must  storm,  350  in  all,  winter  Blockade — Carleton 
12  or  14.  Met  General  Thomas  22d  April  between  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Pt.  General 
Wooster  paid  hard  money  at  Montreal.  Yorkers  paid  in  paper  before  Quebec,  that  they  are  very 
cautious  how  recommendations  (for  promotion)  are  given  to  New  York  officers.  Nicholson 
appointed  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  Canada  Regiment.  Passed  Romans  at  Stillwater,  Captain 
Sloan  last  thursday  week,  left  about  400  there,  about  600  at  Ticonderoga— nothing  new  at  Crown 
Point.  Captain  Tew  lent  his  boat  to  bring  Colonel  Arnold  to  Ticonderoga — Captain  Tew  was 
sent  to  Crown  Point  and  remains  on  board  of  Sloop  '  Enterprize,'  under  command  of  Halsey  a 
lawyer,  and  Commodore  Matthews  in  the  Schooner  '  Atkinson,'  who  is  now  with  Sloan,  has  been 
12  or  13  years  at  the  Lake." 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  5th  Regiment,  New  York  Continental  Infantry 
—Colonel  Lewis  Du  Bois — on  the  26th  of  June,  1776,  but  resigned,  with  Lieu 
tenants  Aorson,  Platt,  Pearse  and  Van  Wagenen,  in  July,  1776,  on  finding  that 
they  would  be  ranked  by  juniors.* 

Reappointed  Second  Lieutenant — Colonel  Henry  Knox's  Regiment  of  Conti 
nental  Artillery — i4th  of  September,  1776. 

Honorably  discharged,  with  his  regiment,  by  expiration  of  service,  3ist  of 
December,  1776. 

He  was  subsequently  appointed  Captain-Lieutenant  2d  Regiment  Conti 
nental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel  Lamb — ist  of  January,  1777,  and  again 
honorably  discharged  at  his  own  request.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay 
Roll. 


JOHN  GANO 

Brigade  Chaplain  Neiv  York  Brigade. 

Bom  at  Hopewell,  N.  J.,  22d  of  July,  1727.  Died  at  Frankfort,  Kentucky, 
roth  of  August,  1804. 

His  ancestors,  Francois  Ganeaux  and  son  Stephen,  French  Huguenots, 
emigrated  from  Guernsey,  and  settled  at  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y.,  where  the  name 


*  See  the  biographical  sketch  of  Aorson, 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  2OQ 

became  Anglicized.  Daniel,  the  son  of  Stephen,  was  the  father  of  the  Chaplain. 
He  commenced  his  career  in  Virginia,  and  continued  his  calling  in  New 
Jersey  and  the  Carolinas.  In  December,  1760,  he  was  called  to  the  Baptist 
Church  in  Philadelphia,  and  in  1761  collected  the  first  Baptist  Congregation 
together  in  New  York  City,  and  became  their  pastor. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution  he  was  appointed  the  Chaplain  of 
the  7th  Connecticut  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Charles  Webb — on  the  ist 
of  January,  1776.  This  regiment,  at  the  request  of  Washington,  volunteered 
for  six  weeks  additional  service,  when  he  was  offered  by  its  Colonel  and  officers 
and  those  willing  to  serve  again  an  appointment  in  the  new  regiment  in  which 
they  were  seeking  to  enlist;  but  having  been  tendered  the  Chaplaincy  of  Colonel 
Lewis  Du  Bois'  5th  New  York  Continental  Infantry,  already  completed  and 
stationed  at  Fort  Montgomery,  he  accepted  it,  and  was  commissioned  on  the 
2ist  of  November,  1776. 

The  following  from  Leake's  Memoirs  of  Colonel  Lamb  shows  his  ability  as  a 
soldier  as  well  as  a  Chaplain  : 

"  Colonel  Lamb,  after  the  investment  of  the  Fort,  was  ordered  by  Governor  Clinton  to  the 
water  batteries  where  a  heavy  attack  had  begun,  sustained  by  a  part  of  the  enemies  flotilla  which 
had  approached  within  striking  distance.  While  busily  engaged  in  the  defence  a  drummer  boy — 
afterward  General  Godwin,  of  Paterson,  N.  J. — finding  his  vocation  of  little  use  accosted  Colonel 
Lamb  and  begged  that  he  might  have  a  musket.  On  account  of  his  youth,  and  presumed  inex 
perience,  he  was  at  first  refused,  but  the  little  fellow  cried  so  with  vexation  and  disappointment 
that  Colonel  Lamb  ordered  him  to  be  supplied  with  arms,  and  side  by  side,  with  the  Reverend  Mr. 
Gano  the  Chaplain,  he  waited  the  advance  of  the  storming  party .  •  *  *  *  *  The  defenders 
of  the  Fort  were  much  scattered,  and  part  of  the  parapet  on  the  opposite  side  had  been  scaled 
and  in  possession  of  the  enemy.  The  Reverend  and  valiant  Chaplain  having  ascertained  this, 
and  that  the  defences,  on  Lamb's  side,  would  soon  be  assailed  in  the  rear,  advised  him  of  the 
fact :  r  orders  were  given  to  cut  their  way  through  the  enemy.  This  was  done  and 

rushing  down  the  outside  of  the  parapet  a  part  of  the  garrison,  Lamb  sword  in  hand  at  their 
head,  escaped." 

Promoted  on  the  i8th  of  August,  1778,  Chaplain  of  General  James  Clinton's 
New  York  Continental  Brigade,  and  marched  with  it,  cooperating  with  General 
Sullivan  in  his  expedition  to  rebuke  the  ravages  of  Brant  and  Butler's  followers 
in  the  victory  of  Newtown. 

He  prepared  a  narrative  in  1790  of  his  own  career,  which  was  published  by 
his  son,  the  Reverend  Stephen  Gano,  an  honorary  member  of  this  Society,  from 
which  Mr.  Henry  T.  Drowne  has  furnished  me  the  following  : 

"  Dr.  Gano  was  delayed  from  terminating  his  military  services  at  the  surrender  of  Vorktown, 
tarrying  on  the  way,  by  General  Clinton's  orders,  to  minister  to  a  sick  Aide-de-Camp." 

When  peace  was  agreed  upon  by  Congress  on  the  nth  of  April,  1783, 
General  Washington,  on  the  2ist,  through  Colonel  David  Humphrey,  announced 


2IO  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

its  general    proclamation  to   Sir  Guy  Carleton,  the    British  commander,  but 
General  Heath,  in  his  Memoirs,  says  : 

"  It  was  settled  exactly  eight  years  after  the  battle  of  Lexington,  and  its  announcement, 
before  the  army,  on  the  igth  April,  at  noon.  The  proclamation  of  Congress  for  a  cessation  of 
hostilities  was  read  at  the  door  of  the  New  Building  followed  by  three  huzzas,  a  prayer  by  the 
Reverend  Mr.  Gano,  and  an  anthem  sung  and  performed  by  vocal  as  well  as  instrumental  music." 

Honorably  discharged  November  3d,  [783,  with  his  brigade.  In  1784  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Standing  Committee  of  this  State  Society.  He 
subsequently  became  a  Regent  of  the  New  York  University  and  a  Trustee  of 
Columbia  College.  In  the  year  1778,  removing  to  Kentucky,  he  labored  for 
the  Lord  until  he  was  called  away  by  his  Maker.  His  name  appears  on  the 
Half-Pay  Roll. 


PETER  GANSEVOORT 

Colonel  $d  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  i7th  of  July,  1749.     Died  2d  of  July,  1812. 

He  was  one  of  the  many  officers  of  the  New  York  I  ine  who  could  recall 
the  patriotism  and  achievements  of  their  forefathers  in  the  Low  Countries  in 
its  defence  against  the  invasions  of  the  Spaniards,  Austrians,  Italians  and  the 
sea. 

Appointed  by  Congress  on  the  igth  of  July,  1775,  Major  of  the  2d  New 
York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Schaick's — and  immediately  joined  in  the  brilliant 
campaign  of  Montgomery  to  Canada. 

Promoted  to  be  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  his  regiment  on  the  ipth  of  March, 
1776,  and  on  the  3oth  of  the  following  July  appears,  from  a  letter  addressed  to 
the  Convention  in  New  York,  as  in  command  at  Fort  George  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Niagara  River,  supervising  the  falling  back  of  our  troops. 

On  the  22d  of  October,  1776,  he  was  one  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  where 
at  the  Saratoga  Headquarters  (Schuyler's  house),  rearranging  the  New  York 
Line,  it  was  agreed  "  that  General  Schuyler  should  pay  one  thousand  dollars 
into  the  hands  of  Colonel  Gansevoort,  to  be  repaid  by  the  Committee  ;  the 
Colonel  to  pay  the  money  out  in  one  hundred  dollars  at  a  payment  to  the 
recruiting  Captain." 

Promoted  to  be  Colonel  of  the  3d  New  York  Regiment  on  the  2ist  of 
November,  1776.  In  April,  1777,  he  took  command  of  Fort  Schuyler  (which 
was  built  by  Colonel  Dayton  in  June,  1776,  by  orders  of  General  Schuyler,  near 
the  remains  of  the  old  fort  built  in  1758,  by  Brigadier-General  John  Stanwix, 
to  protect  that  important  Oneida  carrying  place),  and  gallantly  defended  it 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  211 

against  the  British  and  Indians  under  Colonel  Barry  St.  Leger,  who  arrived  on 
the  3d  of  August,  1777.  On  the  morning  of  the  6th  inst.  Brigadier-General 
Nicholas  Herkimer,  with  the  Tryon  County  Militia  hastening  to  his  relief,  was 
unfortunately  wounded  and  his  forces  defeated  in  the  engagement  in  the 
swamp  at  Oriskany,  and  on  the  same  day,  in  order  to  effect  a  division  in  his 
favor,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Marinus  Willett  made  his  successful  sally  from  the 
fort,  destroying  the  camp  of  the  enemy  and  capturing  all  his  stores  and 
baggage. 

On  the  roth  inst.  General  Schuyler  sent  Colonel  Gansevoort  the  following 
letter  from  Albany  : 

"  DEAR  COLONEL:  A  body  of  troop  left  yesterday  and  others  are  following  to  raise  the  siege 
of  Fort  Schuyler.  Every  body  here  believes  you  will  defend  it  to  the  last,  and  I  strictly  enjoin 
you  so  to  do.  General  Burgoyne  is  at  Fort  Edward,  our  army  at  Stillwater,  great  re-enforcements 
coming  from  the  Eastward,  and  we  trust,  all  will  be  well  and  that  the  enemy  will  be  repulsed." 

On  the  gth  inst.  Colonel  Gansevoort  sent  the  following  reply  to  St.  Leger's 
demand  to  surrender  the  fort  : 

"  SIR  :  In  answer  to  your  letter  of  this  days  date,  I  have  only  to  say  that  it  is  my  deter 
mined  resolution,  with  the  forces  under  my  command  to  defend  this  Fort  at  every  hazard  to  the 
last  extremity,  in  behalf  of  the  United  American  States  who  have  placed  me  here  to  defend  it 
against  all  their  enemies 

' '  I  have  the  honor  to  be  Sir 

"  Your  most  obedient  and  humble  Servant 

"  PETER  GANSEVOORT, 

"  Colonel  Commanding,  &c." 

When  General  Arnold  arrived  on  the  24th  inst.,  St.  Leger  and  his  savages 
fled  in  confusion,  thus  preventing  their  marching  in  triumph,  and  recruiting 
all  the  way  down  the  Mohawk  Valley  as  was  anticipated  by  the  British,  and 
cooperating  with  Burgoyne  before  Albany,  in  the  enemy's  attempt  to  open 
the  Hudson  River.  Colonel  Gansevoort  in  thus  holding  the  fort,  contrib 
uted  essentially  to  the  embarrassment  and  defeat  of  the  latter,  and  received 
the  thanks  of  Congress. 

In  the  Spring  of  1779  he  was  ordered  to  join  General  Sullivan  in  the 
Western  Expedition,  where  he  distinguished  himself  by  surprising  the  Lower 
Mohawk  Castle  and  capturing  the  Indians  in  their  stronghold. 

In  1781  the  State  of  New  York  appointed  him  a  Brigadier-General,  entrust 
ing  him  with  the  responsible  duties  as  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  and  the 
fortifying  the  frontiers. 

Colonel  Gansevoort  married  Catharina  Van  Schaick,  by  whom  he  had  five 
sons  and  one  daughter,  Maria — Mrs.  Melville.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- 
Pay  Roll. 


212  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

HERMAN  GANSEVOORT,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1813,  dying 
in  March,  1862,  at  his  residence  in  Saratoga  County,  without  issue.* 


BENJAMIN   GILBERT 

Lieutenant  isf  New  York  Regiment. 

Appointed  Ensign  in  the  ist  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Schaick's — 
2ist  of  November,  1776,  for  which  he  was  recommended  by  Colonel  John 
Lasher,  then  commanding  the  ist  New  York  Battalion. 

Promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  of  the  Sixth  Company  in  the  same  regiment. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


AQUILA    GILES 

Staff  rank  of  Major,  Aide- de- Camp. 

The  following  sketch  contributed  by  Mr.  T.  Bailey  Myers. 

•> 

Died  8th  of  April,  1822. 

While  little  is  now  accessible  as  to  the  early  life  of  this  once  prominent 
character,  and  no  record  to  define  even  his  military  career,  more  than  ordinary 
research  has  been  amply  rewarded  in  collecting  chips  of  intelligence  washed 
ashore  in  the  flow  of  his  later  useful  life,  sufficient  even  now  to  make  it 
articulate. 

Mr.  William  Kilby,  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  states  that  one 
Captain  Arthur  Helme,  commanding  the  private  armed  cruiser  "Ranger," 
sailed,  in  1746,  in  the  old  French  war,  against  the  uncomfortably  near  enemy 
of  the  British  Colonies.  That  marrying  Jane  Appleby,  their  second  child, 
Frances,  in  May,  1759,  became  the  wife  of  Samuel  Giles,  and  that  their  two 
sons,  Aquila  and  James,  were  the  subjects  of  notice  here.  That  their  mother, 
when  a  widow,  married  Garret  Roorback,  who,  in  June,  1776,  was  Barrack- 
Master  in  New  York,  and  perhaps  influenced  their  military  career. 

This,  as  to  Major  Giles,  cannot  be  traced  by  regimental  records,  and 
it  is  evident  that  as  his  manhood  and  the  culmination  of  the  long-pending 
differences  between  the  Home  Government  and  her  Colonies  chanced  to 
mature  at  the  same  time,  he  sought  service  at  once,  as  is  often  usual  with 

*  Peter  Gansevoort,  youngest  brother  of  Herman,  was  admitted  as  a  life  member  in  1858,  under  the  resolution 
of  1857.  He  died  in  1876. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  213 

gentlemen,  in  staff  duty  and  under  appointment  in  orders.     He  is  early  found 
as  Aide-de-Camp  to  Major-General  Arthur  St.  Clair — 

"  An  English  officer  serving  in  the  French  war  in  America,  of  the  Caithness  family  in  Scot 
land,  and  a  grandson  of  the  Earl  of  Roslyn,  but  who  had  found  a  stronger  influence  to  remain  in 
America  and  assume  her  cause  by  marrying  the  daughter  of  Belshazza  Bayard  and  Mary  Bowdoin 
of  Boston,  half  sister  of  the  Governor. 

"  St.  Clair  came  with  Boscowan's  fleet  in  1758,  and  after  serving  with  Amherst  and  Wolfe, 
settled  in  Pennsylvania,  surrounded  by  the  comforts  his  fortune  and  position  afforded.  He 
entered  the  service  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution,  rose  rapidly  to  Major- Genera  I,  and  served 
with  varied  fortune  but  reputation." 

The  selection  by  him  of  Giles  as  one  of  his  military  family,  evidenced  his 
culture  and  the  promise  which  the  young  aspirant  later  fulfilled. 

Giles'  rank  in  the  army,  or  staff  position,  was  not  such  as  to  command  much 
notice  in  cotemporary  history,  and  was  naturally  included  in  that  of  his  chief. 
There  are  doubtless  details  of  his  service  scattered  in  private  collections  of 
manuscripts,  those  quiet  conservators  of  material  for  future  printed  detail 
which  constantly  supply  them  and  make  history  reliable,  when  consulted  in  an 
age  more  generally  intent  on  its  present  than  upon  details  of  its  growth  and 
existence.  His  early  presence  at  the  depot  of  prisoners  at  Flatbush,  L.  I.,  is 
an  evidence  of  service  in  the  field  and  disaster  ;  but  whether  taken  at  the 
battle  of  Long  Island,  its  sequence,  the  capture  of  Fort  Washington,  or 
detached  duty,  is  not  found. 

In  General  J.  Watson  Webb's  memorial  of  his  father,  Colonel  Samuel  B.  Webb, 
originally  of  the  Connecticut  State  Society,  may  be  found  allusion  to  the 
manner  in  which  an  unfortunately  collected  group  of  gallant  young  soldiers 
passed  their  enforced  leisure  there,  intent  on  finding  pleasure  even  in  disaster. 
As  an  example,  Webb's  friend  and  Adjtitant  Hopkins,  writing  him  on  the  7th 
of  March,  1779,  while  absent  on  a  brief  visit  to  his  home,  and  giving  local 
details,  such  as  is  enjoyable  to  youth,  says  : 

"  Major  Giles  will  be  able  to  inform  you  respecting  the  half-way  house  (probably  Colonel 
William  Axtell's  mansion),  and  Limboshire,  a  pseudonym  for  their  place  of  bondage." 

One  of  these  was  doubtless  the  detail  of  the  attraction  he  was  finding  at 
"  Melrose  Hall,"  the  stately  and  extended  mansion  of  Axtell,  the  local  magnate 
who  had  married  the  daughter  of  Colonel  Abraham  De  Peyster  (then  still  a 
great  power  of  the  State),  at  times  as  President  of  the  Council,  Acting 
Governor,  Chief-Justice  of  the  Colony,  Mayor  of  the  City,  and  from  estate  and 
family  influence  occupying  as  many  actual  positions  as  those  now  delineated 
by  the  fictive  and  evanescent  "  Mikado." 

Colonel  Axtell  was  also  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Council,  1773-5.  Com 
manded  a  regiment  in  the  British  service,  and  was  so  entrusted  with  the  custody 
of  those  prisoners  located  on  or  about  the  Georgian  mansion,  and  finely  culti- 


214  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

vated  estate,  where  he  resided  with  his  family,  surrounded  by  the  evidences  of 
prosperity.  Included  in  this  was  Miss  Eliza  Shipton,  the  attractive  niece,  who 
became  so  interested  in  Major  Giles,  the  prepossessing  young  rebel,  again  cap 
tured  by  her  charms,  as  to  cause  his  exclusion  from  the  mansion.  But  love  again 
"laughed  at  the  locksmith,"  and  on  the  3oth  of  October,  1780 — ten  days  before 
his  exchange — they  were  privately  married.  Other  losses  followed  her  uncle. 

On  the  22d  of  October,  1779,  tne  Legislature  of  the  Colony,  under  the  new 
Government,  had  passed  an  "  Act  of  attainder,"  levelled  at  the  property  of  the 
adherents  of  the  old.  In  it  is  a  list  of  fifty-nine  loyalists,  with  Lord  Dunmore 
and  General  Tryon,  recent  royal  Governors,  at  the  head,  and  "  Sir  Henry 
Clinton,  Knight  of  the  Bath,"  at  the  foot,  as  owners  of  property  in  the  State, 
and  the  others  all  prominent  in  its  early  history.  Colonel  William  Axtell  is 
found  in  the  eighth  place.  It  was  a  harsh  use  of  power,  falling  upon  many 
with  whom  loyalty  to  the  flag  under  which  they  were  born,  even  when  upheld 
to  cover  some  oppressions,  was  a  sentiment,  and  has  not  been  a  precedent 
when  in  later  warfare  the  position  was  changed. 

This  Colonel  Axtell  did  not  go  to  the  block  as  did  his  ancestor,  with  opposite 
convictions,  on  the  restoration  of  Charles  the  II.,  but  passed  into  exile. 

When  the  Commissioners  of  Forfeiture  sold  his  estate,  on  the  2ist  of 
October,  1784,  by  a  turn  of  the  weather-cock  of  life,  Colonel  Giles  became  the 
purchaser  of  the  once  occluded  mansion,  and  resided  in  luxury  upon  the  scene 
of  his  captivity,  until  June,  1809,  as  an  important  rural  citizen.  The  exhuma 
tion  of  most  of  these  facts  is  due  to  the  labors  of  the  indefatigable  Stiles  in  his 
interesting  "  Kings  County  and  Brooklyn." 

By  a  coincidence,  General  St.  Clair  was  at  Amboy  on  the  gth  of  March, 
1780,  negotiating  the  cartel,  in  which  his  Aide-de-Camp  was  included.  Whether 
he  was  with  his  chief  when  one  of  Major  Andre's  judges  in  the  same  autumn, 
or  in  the  next  year  in  suppressing  the  mutiny  of  the  Pennsylvania  Line,  suffer 
ing  from  delayed  pay  at  Yorktown,  or  in  the  South  cooperating  with  General 
Greene,  as  is  probable,  private  sources  do  not  disclose.  History,  in  its  neces 
sary  condensation,  like  the  astrologer  in  tracing  the  comet,  overlooks  the 
astroloids.  Nor  can  the  period  be  fixed  at  which,  as  is  claimed,  he  acted 
temporarily  as  Aide-de-Camp  to  Washington.  Such  temporary  service  of  many 
officers  is  admittedly  omitted  in  the  printed  lists. 

He  is  recalled  as  an  efficient  officer,  a  man  of  intelligence,  and  of  attractive 
presence  and  manner,  all  valued  with  other  elements  by  an  experienced  com 
mander  in  the  selection  of  his  staff,  verifying  the  adage,  "  Show  me  the  man 
and  I  will  tell  you  the  company  he  keeps."  He  held  many  positions  incident 
to  these  qualifications,  representing  Queens  County  in  the  Legislature  from 
1788  to  '92  ;  was  trustee  of  the  old  St.  Anne's  Church  in  Brooklyn  after  the 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  215 

reorganization  in  1787,  and  vestryman  in  1797  ;  a  trustee  of  Erasmus  Hall 
in  Flatbush  from  1787  ;  an  active  patron  of  the  Kings  County  Agricultural 
Society ;  and  Marshal  of  the  United  States  Court  (a  position  of  great 
honor)  from  4th  of  May,  1792,  to  22d  of  December,  1800  ;  Lieutenant- Colonel 
of  Kings  County  Militia,  1795  ;  a  special  trustee  for  preserving  peace  in  New 
York,  28th  of  February,  1810  ;  Major-General  of  Cavalry  there  from  2d  of 
March,  1814.  He  was  Vice-President  in  1797  and  from  1810  to  1821,  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the 
Cincinnati. 

The  following  is  the  notice  of  his  funeral  from  the  "Commercial  Adver- 
tizer  "  : 

"  GENERAL  ORDER.  NEW  YORK,  gth  April,  1822. 

"  The  members  of  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  are  requested  to  attend  the 
funeral  of  Major  A qui la  Giles,  from  his  late  residence,  No.  70  Varick  St.,  this  afternoon  at  4 
o'clock.  The  usual  badge  of  mourning  will  be  worn  for  30  days.  Afajor  Giles  was  a  highly 
meritorious  officer  during  our  Revolutionary  war,  and  had  the  honor  of  an  appointment  as  Aide- 
de-Camp  to  Major-General  St.  Clair.  By  order  of 

"D.  E.  DUNSCOMB,  Secretary.  RICHARD  VARICK,  President. 

"  N.  B. — The  officers  of  the  United  States  Army,  the  officers  of  the  Cavalry  in  uniform,  of 
which  he  was  formerly  the  Major- General,  are  particularly  requested  to  attend  his  remains  to  the 
grave,  as  likewise  those  of  the  artillery  and  infantry  generally. 

"  Major-  Generals  Mapes  and  Laight  of  the  2d  and  3d  Divisions  request  their  officers  to 
unite,  and  Major-General  Morton  and  Brigadier-General  Stevens  order  their  artillery  commands 
to  direct  details  for  Major-General  Giles'  obsequies." 

His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll.* 


JAMES  GILES 

Lieutenant  Neiv  York  Artillery. 

Died  in  August,  1825. 

Resided  in  New  York  City.  He  entered  the  service,  in  1778,  as  a  Commis 
sary  of  Military  Stores  to  the  Artillery. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  2d  Regiment  Continental  Corps  of 
Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's — on  the  2ist  of  July,  1779,  serving  in  Captain  George 
Fleming's  Company,  and  as  Adjutant  of  the  same  on  the  2ist  of  August,  1782. 

He  associated  with  the  New  Jersey  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  on  the 
4th  of  July,  1789,  upon  his  removal  to  that  State  after  the  war,  and  became  a 
Brigadier-General  of  the  Militia  and  the  Clerk  of  the  County  of  Cumberland. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


*  William  Ogden  Giles,  his  youngest  grandson,  represents  him  in  the  Society,  having  been 
admitted  in  1860  as  a  life  member  under  the  resolution  of  1857. 


2l6  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

JAMES  GILLILAND 

Captain  Sappers  and  Miners. 
Expelled  from  the  Society  on  the  8th  of  July,  1790.* 

He  came  from  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Champlain. 

Appointed  Lieutenant  in  the  New  York  Provincial  Artillery  Company — 
Captain  Alexander  Hamilton — i4th  of  March,  1776.  Promoted  to  be  Captain- 
Lieutenant  of  the  same  on  the  26th  of  December,  1776,  and  on  the  same  day 
General  Washington,  in  General  Orders  from  Headquarters  at  Moore's  house, 
West  Point,  ordered  him  to  report  for  duty  to  Brigadier-General  (the  Chevalier] 
Du  Pcrtail,  Chief  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers. 

He  is  said  to  have  been  present  at  the  affair  at  New  York  with  the  British 
ship  "Asia,"  the  battles  of  Long  Island,  Harlem  Heights,  White  Plains,  the 
retreat  through  the  Jerseys,  the  surprise  of  the  Hessians  at  Trenton,  Princeton, 
Brandywine,  Germantown,  Monmouth  and  Yorktown,  and  at  White  Marsh 
from  the  5th  to  the  8th  of  December,  1777,  and  in  camp  at  Valley  Forge  from 
ipth  of  December,  1777,  to  i8th  of  June,  1778. 

The  following  General  Order  from  General  Washington  was  dated  from 
Headquarters,  gth  of  June,  1778  : 

"  Three  Captains  and  Nine  Lieutenants  are  wanted  to  officer  the  Company  of  Sappers.  As 
this  Corps  will  be  a  School  of  Engineering,  it  opens  a  prospect  to  such  gentlemen  as  enter  it,  and 
will  pursue  the  necessary  studies  with  diligence,  of  becoming  Engineers,  and  rising  to  the 
important  employment  attached  to  that  profession,  such  as  the  direction  of  fortified  places,  &c. 
The  qualifications  required  of  the  Candidates  are,  that  they  be  natives,  and  have  a  knowledge  of 
the  mathematics  and  drawing,  and  are  disposed  to  apply  themselves  to  these  studies.  They  will 
give  in  their  names  at  head  quarters." 

This  appears  to  have  been  the  origin  of  the  Military  School  at  West  Point, 
and  James  Gilliland  was  transferred  to  it  with  the  rank  of  Captain  on  the  ad  of 
August,  1779,  as  well  as  Captains  Jonathan  Lawrence  and  Peter  Taulman. 

The  following  is  a  letter  from  the  Paymaster-General  : 

"  NEW  YORK,  2d  August,  1785. 

"  SIR:  The  Commissioners  for  settling  the  army  accounts,  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition 
of  James  Gilliland,  late  a  Captain  in  the  Corps  of  Sappers  and  Miners,  beg  leave  to  report, — 
That  notwithstanding  Captain  Gilliland  has  stated  in  his  petition  that  he  served  in  the  army  to 
the  end  of  the  war,  it  appears  by  the  returns  of  the  Corps  and  by  the  records  of  the  War  Office, 
that  he  resigned  his  commission  on  the  gth  of  October,  1782,  which  resignation,  in  the  opinion  of 
your  Commissioners,  debars  him  of  the  benefits  of  the  Resolution  of  Congress  of  the  i6th  of 
September,  1776,  granting  lands,  and  of  2ist  October,  1780,  granting  Half-pay  for  life  to  such 
officers  as  shall  continue  in  service  to  the  end  of  the  war  :  that  there  is  still  due  to  James  Gilliland 
some  arrears  of  pay  and  Subsistence,  Certificates  for  which  will  be  issued  to  him  on  his  application. 
"  I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant,  JOHN  PIERCE." 

"  President  of  Congress." 

*  See  ante,  page  96. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  217 

CHARLES  GRAHAM 

Captain  $d  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  in  1797,  unmarried. 

He  was  the  son  of  James  Graham  and  Arabella  Morris,  and  prominent  in 
the  organization  for  Independence  in  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.  On  the  5th  of 
July,  1775,  he  and  Henry  Sherburne  were  the  Sub-Committee  who  presented 
the  names  of  the  Associators,  and  signed  for  the  North  East  Precinct. 

Appointed  First  Lieutenant  in  the  4th  Regiment  New  York  Continental 
Infantry — Colonel  James  Holmes — on  the  28th  of  June,  1775. 

Resigned  his  commission  as  Lieutenant  in  Captain  Smith's  company  in 
August,  1776. 

In  the  minutes  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  ist  of  January,  1777,  is 
the  following  : 

"  Timothy  Smith,  Ensign,  told  the  Chairman  that  he  declined  serving,  and  Joshua  Hubbard, 
a  good  looking  young  fellow,  desires  to  be  put  in  his  room.  Said  Hubbard  was  a  Corporal  in 
Captain  Charles  Graham's  Company,  and  from  Suffolk  County." 

Appointed  Captain  of  the  Third  Company  of  the  2d  Regiment  Continental 
Infantry — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's — under  the  new  arrangement  by  the  State 
Convention,  2ist  of  November,  1776,  and  subsequently  transferred  to  the  3d 
Regiment. 

He  continued  for  six  years  in  the  service,  until  deranged  in  1780  by  act  of 
Congress.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

CHARLES  GRAHAM,*  his  nephew,  and  eldest  son  of  John  Graham  who 
was  an  Aide  de-Camp  to  Governor  Clinton,  and  the  younger  brother  of  Captain 
Charles,  was  admitted  in  1819.  He  married  Sarah  M.  Hunter,  and  died  on  the 
1 2th  of  February,  1838.  He  was  the  Secretary  of  this  Society  for  many  years. 

JOHN  HUNTER  GRAHAM,  eldest  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted  in 
1842,  and  died  without  issue  in  1854. 

CHARLES  GRAHAM,  the  next  eldest,  brother  of  John  Hunter  Graham 
and  the  great-nephew  of  Captain  Charles,  was  admitted,  in  the  succession,  in 
i856.f 

*  See  ante,  page  103. 

f  William  Irving  Graham,  a  younger  brother  of  Charles  Graham  and  for  several  years  Secre 
tary  of  this  Society,  was  admitted  in  1860  as  a  life  member  under  the  resolution  of  1857.  He 
died  in  1871. 


2l8  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


JOHN    GRAHAM 

Major  \st  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  yth  of  May,  1832. 

He  appears  in  the  State  Records  as  an  active  patriot  and  Associator  in 
Orange  County,  First  Lieutenant  of  the  Ulster  County  Militia  in  Colonel  Levi 
Pawling's  Regiment,  serving  with  Brigadier-General  George  Clinton  in  March, 
1777,  and  recommended  by  him,  as  a  Captain  for  a  position  in  the  standing 
army.  He  had  served  as  such  in  the  Canada  campaign,  in  the  2d  Regiment 
of  the  New  York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Van  Schaick's — from  27th  of 
June,  1775,  and  was  appointed  its  Major,  in  orders  of  General  James  Clinton, 
camp  at  Canajoharie  Creek,  i9th  of  June,  1779.  His  commission  is  claimed 
to  be  ante-dated  from  the  26th  of  March,  1779. 

He  led  the  advance  of  Colonel  Van  Schaick's  Regiment  in  the  expedition 
against  the  Onondagas. 

From  Albany  General  James  Clinton  writes  to  his  brother  the  Governor, 
on  the  i5th  of  June,  1779  : 

"  I  have  ordered  Colonel  Van  Schaick  to  repair  to  this  place  to  take  command,  in  order  to 
prevent  the  difficulties  which  may  arise  in  this  particular  during  my  absence  :  this  I  was  more 
inclined  to  do  as  Captain  John  Graham  is  appointed  Major  of  said  Regiment." 

His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


STEPHEN    GRAHAM 

Surgeon 's  Mate. 

He  was  stationed  at  the  Hospital  huts  at  New  Windsor. 
In  the  proceedings  of  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New  York,  on  the  26th 
of  November,  1778,  is  the  following: 

"  Whereas  the  Convention  are  informed  that  about  100  Soldiers  belonging  to  Colonel  Brad- 
ley's  Regiment  from  Connecticut,  under  the  care  of  Lieutenant  -3 ,  are  come  to  this  place 

(Fishkill),  without  orders,  some  of  whom  are  said  to  be  sick,  and  application  being  made  to  the 
Committee  to  provide  a  Physician  for  them  :  Resolved,  That  Doctor  Graham  be  authorized  to 
visit  and  take  care  of  said  sick  soldiers  for  three  days.  That  a  letter  be  immediately  despatched 
to  General  Heath,  informing  him  of  the  above  circumstances,  and  that  he  will  give  his  directions 
for  disposing  of  such  of  the  men  of  the  said  Regiment  now  at  this  place,  as  are  in  health,  and  for 
taking  care  of  the  sick." 

His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  2IQ 

SILAS    GRAY 

Captain  $th  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  i Qth  of  January,  1820. 

The  following  is  from  the  State  Records  : 

"On  the  20th  of  December,  1775,  in  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  at  Fishkill,  '  Mr. 
Gansevoort  recommends  Silas  Gray  (then  an  Ensign  serving  in  1775)  as  a  good  officer,  and  is 
worthy  the  notice  of  the  Committee,  that  Colonel  Gansevoort  would  be  happy  in  having  him 
appointed  a  Second  Lieutenant  in  his  3d  Battalion. '  " 

He  was  so  commissioned  on  the  2oth  of  January,  1776,  but  was  transferred 
in  1777  to  the  4th  Battalion — Colonel  James  Holmes. 

Promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  in  the  4th  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Henry 
B.  Livingston — on  the  i3th  of  March,  1777.  Afterward  promoted  to  be 
Captain  in  the  same.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roil.* 

JOHN  WHEELWRIGHT  GREATON 

Ensign    $d   Massachusetts    Regiment. 

Born  Boston,  1761.     Died  at  New  York  in  February,  1815,  unmarried. 

His  father,  Reverend  James  Greaton,  was  the  Rector  of  Christ's  Church, 
Boston,  in  1759. 

Appointed  Ensign  in  Colonel  John  Greaton's  3d  Massachusetts  Regiment 
i6th  of  July,  1782. 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Society,  but  trans 
ferred  in  1796  to  New  York,  "so  long  as  he  lived  in  the  State."  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

JOHN  WHEELWRIGHT  GREATON,  his  nephew,  was  admitted  to 
represent  him  in  1860.  He  served  on  the  Standing  Committee  as  Assistant 
Treasurer  and  as  a  delegate  to  the  triennial  meetings  of  the  Society  for  many 
years. 

JOHN  GREEN 

Captain     United     States    Navy. 

He  was  commissioned  on  the  loth  of  October,  1776,  and  promoted  to  be 
Captain  in  the  Continental  Navy  on  the  nth  of  February.  1778. 

Was  honorably  discharged  nth  of  April,  1783,  having  served  to  the  end  of 
the  war. 

*  John  Franklin  Gray,  M.D. ,  for  many  years  Physician  of  this  Society,  was  admitted  in  1860 
as  a  life  member  under  the  resolution  of  1857.  He  died  in  1882. 


220  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

JAMES   GREGG 

Captain    ist  New  York  Regiment. 

Was  appointed  Second  Lieutenant  3d  Regiment  New  York  Continental 
Infantry — Colonel  Clinton's — 26.  of  August,  1775. 

Served  in  Canada,  and  was  with  that  rank  at  times  connected  with  the 
regiments  of  both  Colonels  Van  Schaick  and  Du  Bois,  until  promoted  to  be 
Captain  in  the  former's — ist  New  York  Regiment — on  the  2ist  of  November, 
1776. 

An  incident  of  his  subsequent  extended  service  in  that  command  is  recorded 
in  "  Dr.  Thatcher's  Military  Journal  "  : 

"Before  Fort  Schuyler  was  invested  by  St.  Leger,  the  Indians  in  small  parties  annoyed  the 
garrison,  and  frequently  attacked  individuals  when  away  from  their  dwellings.  On  one  occasion 
they  fired  upon  three  little  girls  who  were  out  gathering  blackberries  :  two  were  killed  and 
scalped,  but  the  third  escaped.  The  remarkable  adventure  of  Captain  Gregg  is  worthy  of  notice. 
He  was  on  duty  in  the  garrison  and  went  out  to  shoot  pigeons,  with  two  of  his  soldiers  and  a  boy 
named  Wilson,  who  became  an  Ensign  in  the  army  at  the  age  of  eighteen  and  conducted  the 
surrender  of  the  British  standards  at  Yorktown.  Fearing  the  Indians  the  boy  was  sent  back. 
They  had  not  proceeded  far  before  some  savages  in  ambush  shot  all  three  down,  scalped  them 
and  made  off.  The  Captain,  though  badly  wounded,  was  not  killed.  His  two  soldiers,  however, 
were  lifeless,  and  laying  his  bleeding  head  upon  the  body  of  one  of  them,  he  expected  soon  to 
die.  His  dog  had  accompanied  him,  and  in  great  agitation,  whined,  licked  his  wounds  and 
otherwise  manifested  his  grief  and  attachment.  He  told  the  dog  to  go  for  help,  and  the  animal, 
as  if  endowed  with  reason,  at  once  obeyed.  He  ran  about  a  mile  and  found  two  men  fishing. 
By  piteous  moans  he  induced  them  to  follow  him  to  his  wounded  master.  The  Captain  was 
carried  to  the  Fort,  and  after  suffering  much  was  restored  to  health.  The  writer  says,  '  He  was 
a  most  frightful  spectacle.  '1  he  whole  of  his  scalp  was  removed,  in  two  places  on  the  fore  part 
of  his  head  the  tomahawk  had  penetrated  the  skull,  there  was  a  wound  on  his  back  with  the  same 
instrument,  besides  a  wound  in  his  side,  and  another  through  his  arm  with  a  musket  ball.'  " 

His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


JAMES    GRIER 

Lieutenant-Colonel  $d  Pennsylvania  Regiment. 

> 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Society  pf  the  Cin 
cinnati,  but  affiliated  with  the  New  York  State  Society  in  1787. 

Appointed  First  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  William  Thompson's  Battalion  of 
Pennsylvania  Riflemen,  in  Junez  1775,  and  promoted  to  be  Captain  of  the  same 
in  March,  1776,  it  being  subsequently  known  as  the  ist  Regiment  Pennsylvania 
Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Edward  Hand — his  commission  dating  from  25th 
of  October,  1775. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  221 

Promoted  to  be  Major  of  the  loth  Regiment  Pennsylvania  Continental 
Infantry — Colonel  Richard  Humpton— 23d  of  October,  1777.  Transferred  to 
the  6th  Regiment  Pennsylvania  Continental  Infantry,  with  his  Colonel,  on 
incorporation  and  reduction  of  the  Pennsylvania  Line,  i7th  of  January,  1781. 
Transferred  again,  on  a  further  reduction  and  incorporation,  to  the  3d  Regiment 
Pennsylvania  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Richard  Butler — ist  of  January, 

1783- 

Appointed  Lieutenant-Colonel  (by  brevet)  on  the  3oth  of  September,  1783. 

Honorably  discharged  the  service,  with  his  regiment,  3d  of  November,  1783, 
having  been  wounded  at  the  Battle  of  Brandywine  on  the  nth  of  September, 
1777.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


JOHN    GRIER 

Lieutenant  6th   Pennsylvania    -Regiment. 

Appointed  First  Lieutenant  6th  Regiment  Pennsylvania  Continental  Infantry 
— Colonel  William  Irvine — gth  of  January,  1776,  and  was  assigned  to  Captain 
Samuel  Hay's  Company,  and  was  taken  prisoner,  with  a  number  of  his  com 
pany,  on  the  24th  of  July,  1776,  at  Grand  Isle,  Canada. 

Having  been  rendered  supernumerary  by  reason  of  his  capture  on  the 
northern  frontier,  he  was,  on  exchange,  placed  on  leave  of  absence,  and  honor 
ably  discharged  the  service  about  the  ist  of  June,  1779. 

He  was  enrolled  in  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  in  1786. 


ISAAC    GUION 

Captain-Lieutenant  New  York   Artillery. 

Born  at  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y.     Died  at  Natchez,  Mississippi,  February,  1825. 

He  was  a  member  of  Captain  John  Bedell's  Company  of  Minute  Men,  in 
Roundout  Precinct,  Dutchess  County,  on  the  i2th  of  September,  1775. 

The  action  of  that  company  on  that  day  appears  worthy  of  mention  as  one 
of  the  indices  of  the  regard  for  traditional  usages  and  of  the  division  in  senti 
ment  that  existed  when  the  coming  Revolution  demanded  radical  changes. 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Militia,  under  the  command  of  Captain  John  Bedell,  the  persons  here- 
under  named  were  chosen  as  Military  Officers,  out  of  the  said  Company  by  Eighteen  persons,  who 
are  the  number  in  the  said  Company  that  have  Signed  the  Association.  The  remainder  of  the 
Company  including  officers,  being  against  the  measures  recommended  by  Congress  for  regulating 
the  Militia,  voted  unanimously  for  old  officers  who  held  their  commissions  under  Government, 


222  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

(the  names  of  whom  you  have  also  hereunto  annexed,)  Captain,  Andrew  Hill ;  First  Lieutenant, 
Cornelius  Brinckerhoff  ;   Second  Lieutenant,  Francis  Wayman  ;  Ensign,  Abraham  La  Doux. 

*  Signed,  HENRY  SCHENCK, 

WILLIAM  VAN  WYCK, 
Persons  who  presided  at  the  election." 

This  appears  in  the  State  Records,  signed  by  Isaac  Guion  with  seventy- 
eight  other  malcontent  members  of  the  company. 

He  served  as  a  volunteer  in  Canada,  but  was  there,  on  the  i3th  of  April, 
1776,  appointed,  by  Brigadier- General  David  Wooster,  Second  Lieutenant  of 
Captain  Derrick  Hansen's  Company  of  Colonel  John  Nicholson's  Regiment, 
New  York  Continental  Infantry. 

He  served  until  honorably  discharged,  with  his  regiment,  on  the  i5th  of 
October,  1776. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  2d  Regiment  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — 
Colonel  Lamb's — ist  of  January,  1777,  in  which  he  served  until  the  ist  of 
January,  1781.  Having  in  the  meanwhile  been  promoted,  on  the  2 ist  of 
August,  1780,  to  be  Captain- Lieutenant,  he  was  transferred  to  Captain  John 
Doughty's  Company  of  Artillery. 

Honorably  discharged  the  service,  with  a  portion  of  his  regiment,  on  the 
ist  of  January,  1784,  and  then  returned  to  his  home  at  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y. 

Appointed  Captain  3d  Regiment  United  States  Infantry  on  the  i6th  of 
March,  1792  ;  transferred  to  the  3d  Sub-Legion  on  the  20*  of  September  follow 
ing,  and  then  rearranged  in  the  3d  United  States  Infantry  in  reforming  the 
regiment  on  the  ist  of  November,  1796.  Appointed  Brigade-Inspector  on  the 
ist  of  November,  1799,  an^  served  to  the  ist  of  October,  1801.  Promoted  to 
be  Major  3d  United  States  Infantry  on  the  i5thT>f  February,  1801. 

Honorably  discharged  the  service  on  reduction  of  the  army  on  the  ist  of 
June,  1802,  and  settled  in  Natchez,  Miss.  Appointed  United  States  Surveyor 
and  Inspector  of  Revenue,  at  that  place,  in  March,  1821,  which  office  he  held 
until  his  decease.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


HOYSTEED    HACKER 

Captain  United  States  Navy. 

Died  July,  1814. 

He  was  commissioned  a  Lieutenant  in  the  navy  by  Congress  on  the  22d  of 
December,  1775,  and  on  the  loth  of  October,  1776,  as  a  Captain. 

In  the  destruction  attending  the  fire  at  the  British  occupation  of  Wash 
ington  many  records  were  lost.  An  application  to  the  recently  organized 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  223 

Office  of  Naval  Intelligence  in  the  Navy  Department  fails  to  open  any  further 
facts  than  that  he  commanded,  in  1776,  the  United  States  Schooner  "  Fly " 
(8  guns),  and  afterwards  the  United  States  Brig  "  Providence"  (12  guns). 

He  was  admitted  to  the  Society  in  1790*,  and  received  assistance  from  the 
fund  until  his  death. 


MORDECAI    HALE 

Surgeon's  Mate. 

Died  9th  of  December,  1832. 

He  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society  on  the  4th  day  of  July, 
1819,  upon  condition  of  his  paying  one  month's  pay  into  the  fund  and  subscrib 
ing  his  name  to  the  Institution,  in  accordance  with  his  request,  addressed  to 
Colonel  Richard  Varick,  then  President,  as  follows  : 

"  SIR  :  I  have  always  entertained  the  highest  respect  and  veneration  for  the  character  and 
patriotism  of  my  Brother  Officers  of  the  Revolutionary  Army  and  I  was  much  pleased  when  it 
was  proposed  that  they  should  form  a  Society,  by  the  name  of  Cincinnati.  It  was  then  my 
intention  to  have  joined  it  immediately,  and  for  that  purpose  I  gave  a  friend  of  mine  an  order  on 
the  Regimental  Agent  for  one  month's  pay  and  requested  him  to  subscribe  my  name  and  deposit 
the  month's  pay  agreeably  to  the  constitution,  the  latter  of  which  he  neglected  to  do.  It  has 
always  been  my  intention  however  to  apply  for  admittance,  but  residing  in  the  country  and 
seldom  having  the  amount  of  one  month's  pay  to  spare,  I  neglected  making  application  until  the 
last  year  and  then  not  in  writing,  agreeably  to  the  By -Laws  of  the  Society  and  of  course  the 
subject  was  not  taken  into  consideration.  I  now  therefor  very  respectfully  solicit  you  to  lay  my 
application  before  the  Society  and  I  confidently  hope  I  shall  hereafter  not  only  have  the  pleasure 
of  associating  with  them  as  Brother  Officers  of  the  Revolution  but  also  as  a  Member  of  the 
Cincinnati  Society.  I  am  Sir  very  respectfully  your  obt  Servc- 

NEW  YORK  July  4th  1819.  M.  HALE." 

On  the  ist  of  December  following  the  Society  appropriated  forty  dollars  to 
pay  his  expenses  from  New  York  to  Albany  and  back. 


JONATHAN    HALLETT 

Captain  2d  New  York  Regiment. 

He  appears  to  have  entered  the  service  in  the  ist  New  York  Regiment — 
Colonel  McDougall — in  1775.  In  the  next  year  he  was  promoted  to  be  First 
Lieutenant  and  Adjutant  of  the  3d  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Ritzema. 

The  field  officers  recommending  him  as 

"  A  very  excellent  officer,  is  Adjutant  of  the  regiment,  and  will  make  a  very  good  Captain  to 
which  office  we  recommend  him. " 

*  See  anie,  page  96. 


224  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Commissioned  Captain  of  the  Third  Company  2d  New  York  Regiment — 
— Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's— on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  and  appears  in  the 
returns  of  1779  and  1780  as  commanding  the  Seventh  Company.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


LUTHER    HALSEY 

Lieutenant  2d  New  Jersey  Regiment. 

Died  in  1830. 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  New  Jersey  State  Society  of  the  Cincin 
nati,  but  affiliated  with  the  New  York  in  1801. 

Sergeant  2d  Battalion,  First  Establishment ;  Adjutant  2d  Battalion,  Second 
Establishment,  28th  of  November,  1776  ;  Lieutenant  and  Adjutant  in  the  ad 
New  Jersey  Regiment — Colonel  Israel  Shreve — pth  of  November,  1777.  Dis 
charged  at  the  close  of  the  war.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

LUTHER  HALSEY,  his  son,  succeeded  him  in  the  New  Jersey  State 
Society  in  1835. 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON 

Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Aide-de-Camp. 

The   following  sketch    furnished   by   Alexander   Hamilton,   Jr. 

Born  on  the  nth  of  January,  1757,  in  the  Island  of  Nevis,  West  Indies. 
Died  in  New  York  on  the  i2th  of  July,  1804.* 

His  father  was  James  Hamilton,  fourth  son  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  of 
Grange  and  Cambus-Keith,  one  of  the  oldest  cadet  branches  of  the  Scotch 
family  of  Hamilton.  His  mother  was  a  daughter  of  a  French  Huguenot  named 
Faucette.  The  only  surviving  child  of  his  parents,  his  abilities  attracted  the 
notice  of  Mr.  Cruger  and  some  generous  friends,  who  sent  him  to  this  country 
to  improve  his  education,  and  leaving  the  West  Indies  he  landed  in  Boston  in 
October,  1772,  when  he  was  fifteen  years  of  age. 

He  proceeded  to  New  York,  and  soon  entered  a  school  at  Elizabethtown, 
where  he  remained  about  a  year,  preparing  himself  for  college,  and  in  the 
Winter  of  1774  entered  Kings,  now  Columbia  College. 


*  See  Aaron  Burr. 


From  the   original  by  J.   TRUMBULL  in   possession   of  CHAMBER  OF   COMMERCE,   N     Y. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  225 

Before  he  could  complete  his  collegiate  course  the  troubles  preceding  the 
Revolution  began,  and  though  only  seventeen  years  of  age,  he  took  an  active 
part  on  the  side  of  opposition  to  the  Crown  by  pamphlets  and  speeches  to 
prepare  the  Colonies  for  open  and  armed  resistance.  He  began  by  study  and 
.drill  to  qualify  himself  as  a  soldier  for  the  conflict,  and  on  the  ist  of  March, 
1776.  he  was  appointed  Captain  of  a  New  York  Company  of  Provincial 
Artillery.  In  command  of  this  company  he  took  part  in  the  battles  of  Long 
Island,  White  Plains,  Trenton,  Princeton  and  the  crossing  of  the  Raritan,  until 
March  ist,  1777,  when  he  accepted  the  position  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Aide- 
de-Camp  on  the  staff  of  General  Washington.  He  served  in  that  capacity  until 
the  month  of  February,  1781,  when  he  resigned  the  position. 

His  connection  with  the  Army  of  the  Revolution  was  not  closed,  however,' 
as  he  retained  his  commission,  and  at  the  head  of  a  regiment  of  Light  Infantry, 
with  his  old  friend  Nicholas  Fish  as  Major,  carried,  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet 
and  in  a  few  minutes,  one  of  the  British  redoubts  at  Yorktown,  on  the  i4th  of 
October,  1781. 

The  surrender  of  Cornwallis  virtually  ended  the  military  struggle,  and 
Colonel  Hamilton,  when  all  chance  of  further  conflict  was  over,  resigned  his 
commission  and  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law. 

His  connection  with  the  Army  of  the  United  States  was  not,  however,  at  an 
end.  In  1798,  when  the  conduct  of  France  drove  the  United  States  to  the 
verge  of  hostility,  both  by  sea  and  land,  a  large  army  was  authorized,  with 
Washington  as  General-in-Chief.  As  one  of  his  conditions,  Mr.  Hamilton  was 
appointed  second  in  command  as  Inspector-General,  with  the  rank  of  Major- 
General,  another  of  Washington's  conditions  being  that  he  should  not  take 
command  personally  until  the  army  was  called  into  the  field.  Upon  General 
Hamilton  fell  the  main  duty  and  labor  of  organizing  this  army,  a  duty  which 
he  performed  with  his  usual  zeal  and  intelligence.  Upon  Washington's  death, 
in  1799,  General  Hamilton  succeeded  to  the  chief  command  ;  but  the  difficulty 
with  France  being  settled  amicably,  the  army  was  soon  after  disbanded. 

Colonel  Hamilton  was  one  of  the  earliest  members  of  the  Society  of  the 
Cincinnati,  having  signed  the  roll  of  the  New  York  State  Society  as  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  and  Aide-de-Camp.  He  was  an  active  member,  and  took  much  interest 
in  the  Society,  acting  on  committees  and  preparing  reports.  The  only  offices 
he  held  in  the  Society  were  those  of  Vice-President  of  the  New  York  State 
Society  from  1788  to  1793,  and  of  President-General  on  the  death  of  Washing 
ton  in  1799,  which  he  held  until  his  own. 

The  Cincinnati  Society  showed  their  affection  for  him  and  regard  to  his 
memory  by  taking  charge  of  his  funeral  and  erecting  a  marble  tablet  (see  ante, 
page  102)  in  Trinity  Church,  New  York,  with  an  inscription,  much  admired, 


226  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

from  the  pen  of  the  Reverend  Doctor  John  M.  Mason.     His  name  appears  on 
the  Half-Pay  Roll.* 

ALEXANDER  HAMILTON,  his  eldest  surviving  son,f  was  admitted  by 
the  New  York  State  Society  in  1806.  He  married  Eliza  Knox,  and  died  at 
New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  on  the  2d  of  August,  1875,  without  issue. 

ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  Jr.,  son  of  James  A.  Hamilton  who  was 
the  next  surviving  son  of  General  Hamilton,  was  admitted  by  the  New  York, 
State  Society  as  a  life  member  in  1860,  under  the  resolution  of  1857.  Subse 
quently,  in  1876,  at  his  father's  death,  he  became  the  hereditary  member  in  the 
succession  of  his  grandfather.  He  was  chosen  Treasurer  in  1874,  Treasurer 
•General  in  1875,  and  elected,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1885,  Vice-President  of  the 
New  York  State  Society. 


ABIJAH    HAMMOND 

Lieutenant    $(1    Artillery,   Massachusetts. 

Born  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  22d  of  February,  1757.  Died  3oth  of  December, 
1832. 

In  1776,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  joined  the  Continental  Army  as  a  mem 
ber  of  Captain  Frothingham's  Company  of  Artillery,  which  had  been  attached 
to  Colonel  John  Crane's  Regiment — formerly  Knox's — and  in  the  following 
year,  1777,  he  was  commissioned  as  a  Lieutenant  and  served  as  such  with  his 
regiment.  He  was  attached  to  the  Adjutant-General's  Department  under 
Colonel  Scammel,  toward  the  close  of  the  war. 

*  His  widow,  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  General  Schuyler,  survived  him  over  half  a  century, 
dying  at  Washington  on  the  gth  of  November,  1854,  at  the  age  of  ninety-seven  years  and  three 
months. 

The  following  reply  to  this  Society's  letter  to  her,  addressed  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  William 
Stephens  Smith,  then  the  President,  is  recorded  in  the  minutes  : 

"  ALBANY,  August  nth,  1804. 

"  SIR  :  To  the  distress  of  a  heart  so  deeply  afflicted  as  mine,  from  the  irreparable  loss  of  a  most  amiable  and 
affectionate  husband,  I  trust  the  respectable  Society  over  which  you  preside  will  correctly  impute  the  delay  of  an 
acknowledgement  for  their  consolatory  letter,  couched  in  terms  that  evince  that  jheir  sympathy  emanates  from 
the  heart. 

"  Although  great  mitigation  of  that  affliction,  with  which  I  am  so  severely  depressed,  can  only  be  hoped  from 
the  mercies  of  the  Divine  Being,  in  whose  dispensations  it  is  the  duty  of  His  creatures  humbly  and  devoutly  to 
acquiesce  ;  yet  the  wounded  heart  derives  a  degree  of  consolation  from  the  tenderness  with  which  its  lot  is  bewailed 
by  the  virtuous,  the  wise  and  the  humane, — and  also  from  that  high  honor  and  respect  with  which  the  memory  of 
the  dear  deceased  has  been  commemorated  by  them,  and  those  contemplated  in  the  Resolutions  of  the  Society  of 
the  Cincinnati,  transmitted  by  you,  and  for  which,  you  Sir,  will  be  pleased  to  convey  my  warmest  thanks  to  that 
respectable  body.  I  reciprocate  with  sensibility  your  and  their  recommendation  of  me  to  the  Divine  care  and 
protection.  May  they  ever  enjoy  it  and  without  alloy. 

"  I  am,  Sir,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant,  &c." 

t  General  Hamilton's  eldest  son  Philip  was  killed  in  a  duel  with  Acker  in  1802. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  227 

Was  present  at  the  battles  of  Brandywine,  Germantown,  Monmouth  and 
Yorktown,  and  is  said  to  have  been  in  Fort  Schuyler  during  the  siege.  At 
Monmouth  he  was  wounded,  once  by  a  sabre  cut  and  again  by  a  musket  ball, 
and  at  Valley  Forge  endured  the  hardships  of  the  Winter  of  1777-78. 

When  the  army,  after  the  war,  was  reorganized,  Washington  tendered  him 
the  command  of  an  artillery  regiment,  which  he  declined,  preferring  to  pass 
the  remainder  of  his  life  at  his  beautiful  and  attractive  residence  on  Throgg's 
Neck,  where  he  died  in  his  seventy-fifth  year,  universally  beloved  and  esteemed 
by  all  who  knew  him,  having  served  his  country  well  as  a  brave  and  intelligent 
officer. 

He  married  Catharine  Ogden,  and  died,  leaving  three  sons  and  two 
daughters.  This  Society  elected  him  their  Treasurer  in  1793.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

CHARLES  HENRY  HAMMOND,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1843, 
and  died  in  1849,  unmarried. 

OGDEN  HAMMOND,  his  second  son,  was  in  1850  admitted  by  the  South 
Carolina  State  Society.  He  died  leaving  issue  a  daughter,  Mrs.  Trenholm 
Inwood  of  Charleston,  S.  C. 

ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  HAMMOND,  his  youngest  son,  succeeded 
him  in  the  direct  male  line,  and  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society 
in  1875.  He  presented  the  Society,  in  1876,  with  an  oil  painting  of  his  father 
in  full  uniform.  See  ante,  page  130. 


JOHN    FRANCIS    HAMTRAMCK 

Captain  2cl  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  in  Canada  in  1757.     Died  at  Detroit,  Mich.,  nth  of  April,  1803. 

He  was  Captain  of  the  Light  Infantry  Company  of  the  2d  New  York  Regi 
ment —  Colonel  Van  Cortlandt.  On  the  i7th  of  March,  1777,  the  Committee  of 
Arrangements,  on  the  recommendation  of  Colonels  Livingston  and  Gansevoort, 
appointed  him  Captain  in  Colonel  Lewis  Du  Bois'  Regiment. 

After  the  war  he  was  appointed  Major  of  Infantry  on  the  2gth  of  Septem 
ber,  1789;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Commanding  the  First  Sub-Legion,  on  the  i8th 
of  February,  1793,  and  Colonel on  the  ist  of  April,  1802. 

He  commanded  the  left  wing  under  Wayne,  and  on  the  2oth  of  August, 
1794,  distinguished  himself  in  the  victory  on  the  Miami.  His  name  appears  on 
the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


228  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

FRANCIS    HANMOR 

Lieutenant  $th  New  York  Regiment. 

He  was  an  Associator  at  Newburgh  en  the  6th  of  July,  1775. 

Appointed  Ensign  in  the  5th  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Lewis  Du  Bois 
— on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  and  subsequently  promoted  to  be  a  Lieutenant 
in  the  same.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

ABRAHAM    HARDENBERGH 

Lieutenant  ist  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  in  1795. 

He  was  an  Associator  for  Independence  at  Marbletown,  Ulster  County, 
in  June,  1775,  and  served  as  an  Ensign  in  the  ist  New  York  Battalion  in  that 
year  and  until  appointed  Lieiitenant  of  the  .First  Company  of  the  ist  New  York 
Regiment  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776.  With  many  other  valuable  officers 
he  resigned  in  consequence  of  the  precedence  secured  by  Colonel  Du  Bois  for 
his  own  officers  over  those  who  had  served  in  Canada. 

Appointed  Deputy  Muster-Master  to  the  ist  Battalion  of  the  New  York 
forces  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  in  March,  1780. 

Lossing  records  the  following  incident  of  his  services  : 

"  At  the  time  of  this  expedition  there  were  about  forty  Oneida  warriors  at  Fort  Schuyler. 
These  were  sent,  with  a  party  of  regulars  under  Lieut  nants  McLellan  and  Hardenbergh,  north 
ward  to  attack  the  Fort  at  Oswegatchie.  This  expedition  was  unsuccessful  in  its  ostensible 
object,  the  garrison  having  been  apprised  of  their  approach.  It  is  supposed  that  the  employment  of 
the  Oneidas,  so  far  away  that  they  could  not  notify  their  kinsman  the  Onondagas  of  the  invasion, 
was  the  principle  object  of  this  northern  movement  and  in  that  it  was  successful.  The  Oneidas 
were  really  friendly  to  the  patriots,  but  to  their  credit  it  was  said,  by  General  Clinton  in  a  letter  to 
General  Sullivan,  '  Their  attachment  to  one  another  is  too  strong  to  admit  of  their  being  of  any 
service  when  employed  against  their  fellows. '  " 

His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 

JOSEPH    HARDY 

> 

Captain  of  Marines,  United  States   Navy. 

He  was,  on  the  25th  of  June,  1776,  appointed  Captain  of  a  company  in  the 
Marine  Corps  of  the  United  States  Navy,  with  which  he  served  until  honorably 
discharged  the  service  at  the  end  of  the  war. 

In  1790  he  made  an  application  to  the  New  York  State  Society  to  be 
admitted  to  membership,  and  on  the  4th  of  July  of  that  year  he  was  so  elected. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  229 

He  served  from  1805  until  1810  as  Secretary.     His  name  appears  on  the  Half- 
Pay  Roll  as  Captain  of  New  York. 

JOSEPH  L.  C.  HARDY,  his  son,  was  in  1820  admitted  in  the  succession, 
and  died  in  November,  1853. 


SAMUEL    HAY 

Lieutenant -Colonel  (by  brevet]  Irvine's  Pennsylvania  Regiment. 

Died  December,  1803. 

He  was  commissioned  on  the  gth  of  January,  1776,  a  Captain  in  Colonel 
William  Irvine's  Pennsylvania  Regiment.  Promoted  on  the  3ist  of  July,  1777, 
to  be  Major  of  the  same,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  (by  brevet]  at  the  termination 
of  the  war,  after  five  years'  service. 

His  residence  was  in  New  York  ;  but  upon  removing,  in  1796,  to  New 
Jersey,  he  met  with  the  Society  there.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay 
Roll. 

PHILIP  COURTLAND  HAY  (Reverend],  his  son,  born  in  Newark  in 
1793.  succeeded  him  in  the  New  Jersey  State  Society,  having  been  admitted  in 
1826,  and  elected  its  Secretary  in  1829.  He  died  in  1860. 

NATHANIEL    HENRY 

Lieutenant  2d  New  York  Regiment. 

He  served  in  the  Canadian  expedition  in  1776,  and  was  appointed  in  head 
quarters,  orders  before  Quebec,  on  the  i5th  of  April  of  that  year,  Second 
Lieutenant  of  the  Second  Company  of  Colonel  John  Nicholson's  Canada  Regi 
ment.  Colonel  Van  Schaick,  writing  on  the  ist  of  January,  1777,10  Robert 
Yates,  recommends  him  as  follows  : 

"  I  also  recommend  Lieutenant  Nathaniel  Henry,  and  have  by  the  General's  approbation 
appointed  him  Lieutenant,  and  advanced  him  money.  He  has  already  nearly  enlisted  his  com 
plement  of  men  and  is  with  them  on  service  at  Fort  George,  so  that  the  Committee  I  hope  will 
not  fail  to  appoint  him." 

He  was  so  commissioned  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  probably  ante 
dated,  for  in  1777  he  is  recorded  as  a  Second  Lieutenant  in  Captain  John  H. 
Wendell's  Company  of  Colonel  Van  Schaick's  Regiment.  His  name  appears  on 
the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


230  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

BENJAMIN    HERRING 

Ensign  jst  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  in  January,  1809. 

He  was  Ensign  of  the  Second  Company  ist  New  York  Regiment  —  Colonel 
Van  Schaick's.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll.* 

ABEL    HOLDEN 

Captain  6th  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

Born  at  Sudbury,  Mass.,  in  1751.  Died  in  New  York  City  on  the  2d  of 
August,  1818. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Society,  but  was  transferred 
to  the  New  York  State  Society  in  1809. 

Appointed  Adjutant  of  Nixon's  Regiment  on  the  i.gth  of  April,  1775.  He 
served  at  Bunker  Hill,  and  was  at  the  Siege  of  Boston,  and  commissioned 
Captain  in  the  6th  Massachusetts  Regiment—  Colonel  Thomas  Nixon's— on  the 
ist  of  January,  1777,  serving  with  it  through  the  war.  His  name  appears  on 
the  Half-Pay  Roll.f 


BAXTER    HOWE 

Captain- Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Died  in  the  service  on  the  march  to  Yorktown,  on  the  3d  of  September, 
1781,  at  Burrell's  Ferry,  James  River,  Va.,  while  serving  under  Lafayette. 

He  was  appointed  on  the  ist  of  January,  1776,  Second  Lieutenant  in  Captain 
Josiah  Fay's  Company  of  Colonel  Jonathan  Ward's  Regiment  of  Connecticut 
Infantry — the  2 ist  Continental  Foot — and  promoted  to  be  its  First  Lieutenant 
on  the  1 2th  of  July,  1776,  vice  Ebenezer  Cleveland,  promoted. 

Subsequently  appointed  a  First  Lieutenant  in  the  2d  Regiment  Continental 
Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's — on  the  ist  of  January,  1777,  and  promoted 
to  be  Captain- Lieutenant  of  the  same  on  the  9th  of  November,  1778,  and 
attached  to  the  Light  Artillery  (Sixth  Company)  under  Captain  George  Fleming. 


*  His  remains  were  buried  at  the  Society's  expense,  and   his  widow  and  offspring  for  many  years  received  aid 
from  the  fund. 

t  He  was  buried  at  the  Society's  expense,  and  his  widow  for  many  years  received  aid  from  the  fund. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  331 

He  served  at  the  Siege  of  Boston,  Harlem  Heights,  and  in  the  battles  of 
Brandywine,  Germantown  and  Monmouth. 

BRIGHAM  HOWE,  his  son,  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society 
on  the  4th  of  July,  1804,  under  the  provision  of  the  Institution  giving  to  the 
offspring  of  those  officers  who  have  died  in  the  service  succession. 


BEZALEEL    HOWE 

Lieutenant  \$t  New  Hampshire  Regiment. 

Died  3d  of  September,  1825. 

He  was  admitted  in  1800  by  the  New  York  State  Society. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  Third  Company  of  the  ist  New  Hamp 
shire  Regiment — Colonel  Joseph  Cilley — and  was  recommissioned  on  the  8th  of 
November,  1776. 

Served  with  his  regiment  at  Ticonderoga  in  July,  1777,  at  Bemis  Heights, 
the  storming  of  Stony  Point,  the  Battle  of  Monmouth,  and  was  in  Sullivan's 
Expedition  against  the  Indians  in  1779.  Afterwards,  in  1793,  he  was  under 
Wayne  in  the  Miami  Campaign 

GEORGE  COOPER  HOWE,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  his  right  in 
1826,  and  died  on  the  4th  of  December,  1841. 

GEORGE  BEZALEEL  HOWE,  eldest  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted  in 
1886. 


ISAAC    HUBBELL 

Captain- Lieutenant  and  Paymaster  New  York  Artillery. 

He  was  appointed  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  3d  Regiment  New  York  Conti 
nental  Infantry — Colonel  James  Clinton's — ist  of  September,  1775,  and  pro 
moted  to  be  First  Lieutenant  of  the  Sixth  Company  on  the  i5th  of  April,  1776. 
Transferred  to  Colonel  John  Nicholson's  Regiment  New  York  Continental 
Infantry,  before  Quebec.  Assigned  as  First  Lieutenant  to  the  2d  Regiment 
Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's — on  the  ist  of  January,  1777. 
Appointed  Adjutant  of  his  regiment  on  the  2d  of  April,  1779,  and  promoted  to  be 
Captain- Lieutenant  on  the  gth  of  November,  1778,  and  Deputy  Adjutant-General 


232  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

and  Sub-Inspector  of  the  troops  in  the  Middle  Department,  in  General  Orders 
from  Headquarters  at  the  Robinson  House,  dated  5th  of  September,  1780. 

Appointed  Paymaster  to  his  regiment  on  the  ist  of  January,  1781,  and 
served  with  it  until  honorably  discharged  on  the  3d  of  November,  1783.  His 
name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


JAMES  MILES  HUGHES 

Captain   in    Malcoms   Regiment  and  Aide-de-Camp. 

Born  on  the  24th  of  March,  1756.     Died  on  the  i8th  of  December,  1802. 

He  was  the  second  son  of  Colonel  Hugh  Hughes,*  whose  eldest  son  Peter, 
was  an  Aide  on  Arnold's  staff  at  Stillwater  in  1777. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  ist  New  York  Regiment  Continental 
Infantry — McDougall's — on  the  22d  of  July,  1775,  and  commissioned  to  be 
First  Lieutenant  of  the  Third  Company  of  the  same,  dated  the  24th  of  Feb 
ruary,  1776. 

When  the  sixteen  additional  Regiments  to  the  Continental  Line  were 
ordered  by  Congress,  in  1777,  he  was  appointed  a  Captain  in  Colonel  William 


*  Colonel  Hugh  Hughes  descended  from  the  Hughes  family  of  Wales,  a  branch  of  which  settled 
early  in  Pennsylvania.  He  was  born  in  1727  and  died  on  the  isth  of  March,  1802.  He  came  to 
New  York  in  1765,  and  being  a  man  of  excellent  education,  but  in  moderate  circumstances,  gave 
instruction  in  the  consistory  room  of  the  old  Huguenot  Church,  "  du  Sainte  Esprit,"  which  stood 
then  in  Pine  Street,  near  Nassau.  His  ardent  patriotism  associated  him,  in  1767,  with  other 
early  movers  as  a  "  Son  of  Liberty,''  and  led  to  his  appointment  by  the  Provisional  Convention 
of  this  State,  on  the  i6th  of  February,  1776,  as  Commissary  of  Military  Stores,  and  soon  after  as 
Continental  Deputy  Qiurtennaster-General.  In  this  capacity,  when  the  greater  portion  of  the 
army  were  cut  off  after  the  defeat  on  Long  Island,  he  materially  contributed  to  their  rescue  by 
collecting  all  the  available  boats  around  Manhattan  Island,  and  transporting  them  over  on  the 
ensuing  night. 

The  State  archives  describes  the  hardship  of  this  hasty  action  in  the  complaint  of  Stephen 
Hogeboom,  Captain  of  the  sloop  "Halifax,"  to  the  Convention  at  Fishkill,  on  the  2d  of 
February  of  the  next  year,  as  follows  : 

"  That  in  August  last  hearing  that  the  Ships  of  War,  had  Sailed  out  of  Hudson  River,  brought  his  Sloop  back 
to  New  York  with  a  design  to  proceed  with  her  to  Claverack.  but  was  prevented  from  proceeding  by  Colonel 
Wadsworth  and  Commissary  Hughes,  who  ordered  your  Memorialist  over,  with  the  Sloop  to  Long  Island  Ferry, 
where  she  was  used  to  carry  off  the  troops  and  stores  after  the  unfortunate  retj^at  on  the  28th,  and  seeing  no 
prospect  of  bringing  said  Sloop  to  a  place  of  safety  quitted  her.  That  the  said  Sloop  was  afterward  carried  up  with 
stores  to  the  army,  through  the  Sound,  to  Kingsbridge,  where  she  was  used  as  a  store  vessel  for  the  Continental 
army,  until  the  retreat  from  the  Island,  when  she  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy." 

General  Heath,  at  the  "Highlands,"  in  General  Orders,  returned  "  hearty  thanks  for  his 
attention  and  discharge  of  the  several  duties  of  his  office  while  in  service  under  innumerable 
embarrassments,"  one  of  which  was  laying  the  chain  cable  across  the  Hudson  River  between 
the  Highlands,  in  February,  1778,  and  placing  obstructions  in  the  river  near  West  Point,  under 
the  superintendence  of  Captain  Thomas  Machin,  of  the  2d  New  York  Regiment. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  233 

Malcom's,  and  *vas  an  Aide  to  General  Gates  at  the  end  of  the   Burgoyne 
Campaign. 

The  following  letter  from  Headquarters,  Saratoga,  dated  i5th  of  October, 
1777,  addressed  to  Mrs.  Charity  Hughes,  his  mother,  at  West  Windsor,  Conn., 
is  interesting : 

"  HONORED  MOTHER  :  I  have  just  time  to  inform  you  of  the  inexpressible  pleasure  I  shall 
have  of  seeing  the  famous  Lt.  General  Burgoyne  and  his  Army  march  out  of  his  Intrenchments 
to-morrow  morning  and  surrender  himself  and  Army  prisoners  of  war.  He  Capitulated  this  day, 
how  changed  the  scene,  a  few  weeks  ago  all  was  gloomy  and  seemed  like  the  glimmering  of 
twilight,  but  now  the  cloud  is  dispelled  and  the  rays  of  conquest  beams  high  in  this  Department. 
The  occasion  of  his  precipitate  retreat  was  this,  On  the  7th  inst.  about  two  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon  our  Army  was  alarmed  that  the  enemy  was  advancing  on  our  lines.  After  making  the 
necessary  disposition  of  our  troops,  our  scouts  informed  us  that  they  were  only  a  foraging  party 
and  meant  no  more,  on  which  the  Geneial  ordered  three  regiments  to  attack  them,  which  they 
did,  when  a  very  heavy  fire  commenced,  both  sides  re-inforced  with  equal  avidity  but  the  ardor  of 
our  men  and  determination  to  conquer  forced  the  British  troops  to  give  way  and  pursued  them  in 
their  Works,  took  the  Camp  of  their  flying  Army,  General  Burgoyne's  Aid-de-Camp.  the  Quarter 
Master  General,  the  Commanding  Officers  of  their  Artillery  and  Grenadiers,  a  Hessian  Colonel, 
with  many  other  Officers  and  about  two  hundred  privates  with  eight  brass  pieces  of  Artillery. 

Unfortunately  in  the  action  of  the  day,  the  brave  and  gallant  General  Arnold  had  his  leg 
fractured  by  a  musket  ball.  The  Enemy  the  same  night  retired  to  their  intrenched  Camp  on 
their  left. 

'''General  Lincoln's  Division  being  nearest  them,  he  unfortunately  re-connoitering  received 
the  like  accident,  but  they  are  both  in  a  fair  way  of  doing  well,  tho'  they  are  much  wanting  in 
this  Army. 

"Consider  the  stroke  to  the  British  Nation,  will  they  not  be  convinced  that  Americans 
fighting  for  their  freedom  are  invincible  and  that  the  longer  the  War  continues,  we  make  further 
advances  in  military  disciplin,  that  added  to  our  determined  resolution  to  repel  every  hostile 
invasion  of  our  rights  will  make  us  formidable  to  our  foes. 

"  We  pay  our  next  attention  to  Mr.  Clinton  on  the  river,  should  he  not  walk  off  in  time — 
worse  consequences  may  ensue  to  him  than  has  to  his  friend  Burgoyne. 

"  I  have  not  time  to  say  more,  what  more  would  you  have,  how  are  the  mighty  fallen. 

"  God  bless  you,  my  sincere  love  to  sisters  Sally,  Chany,  Susy,  Ruthy,  Caty.  God  love  you 
all.  Compliments  to  all  friends.  I  remain  dear  Mother  your  affectionate  son 

"JAMES  M.   HUGHES. 

"  Brother  Peter  is  here  and  desires  to  be  remembered  to  you." 

Leaving  the  service  he  practiced  law  in  New  York,  sent  to  the  Assembly  in 
1795,  and  was  Secretary  of  this  State  Society  in  1793,  taking  an  active  part  in 
the  commemorative  ceremonies  at  Washington's  death. 

He  married  Mary,  the  daughter  of  Captain  John  Bailey,  and  died  leaving 
two  daughters,  who  died  unmarried.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

DIXON  GEDNEY  HUGHES,  great-grandson  of  his  brother,  Captain 
Peter  Hughes,  was  admitted  as  his  collateral  representative  in  1875. 


234  THF-    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

EPHRAIM    HUNT      - 

Lieutenant  /\th  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

Born  at  Watertown,  Mass.,  on  the  5th  of  November,  1758.  Died  at  Albany 
on  the  1 6th  of  October.  1805. 

He  was  a  descendant  of  Enoch  Hunt,  one  of  the  original  Massachusetts 
settlers  of  Weymouth,  and  died,  leaving  a  widow,  Catharine,  and  three  children, 
in  Albany,  N.  Y.* 

Commissioned  Lieutenant  of  the  Qth  Massachusetts  Regiment — Colonel 
Henry  Jackson — on  the  Qth  of  August,  1781.  On  the  subsequent  reduction  of 
the  army.  3oth  of  October,  1782,  it  became  the  4th  Regiment,  and  he  served 
with  it  to  the  close  of  the  war. 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Society,  and  in 
1785,  residing  in  this  State,  affiliated  with  the  New  York  Society  and  signed 
its  roll.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

THOMAS    HUNT 

Lieutenant  ^th  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  in  December,  1796,  in  Charleston,  S.  C.f 

He  was  the  eldest  son  of  Jesse  Hunt,  the  Sheriff  of  Westchester  County, 
N.  Y.,  under  the  Crown,  and  a  descendant  of  Thomas  Hunt,  of  Shrewsbury, 
England,  High  Sheriff  of  Shropshire  in  1656,  who  emigrated  to  America,  and 
obtained  a  patent  for  the  "  Grove  Farm "  from  the  first  English  Colonial 
Governor,  Richard  Nicolls,  dated  the  4th  of  December,  1667,  and  at  his 
decease  willed  to  his  grandson  one  hundred  acres  on  the  "  Great  Planting 
Neck,"  now  known  as  Hunt's  Point,  N.  Y.  City.  He  resided  on  Hunter's 
Island,  at  Pelham,  Westchester  County,  N.  Y.,  and  enlisted  from  New  Rochelle. 

Commissioned  Lieutenant  in  the  4th  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Henry 
B.  Livingston's — he  saw  much  service,  including  the  Canada  Campaign.  His 
commission  is  dated  the  pth  of  November,  1777,  but  his  name  appears,  a  year 
earlier,  on  a  list  of  officers  of  the  four  New  York  Battalions,  now  in  the  office 
of  the  Secretary  of  State,  as  a  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  Seventh  Company  of 
the  same,  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  and  again,  in  1777,  he  is  referred  to 
as  holding  that  rank  in  1775.  This  error  is  explained  by  a  rank  roll  of  his 
regiment,  adjusted  under  an  order  from  Headquarters,  Morristown,  dated  2oth 

*  He  and  his  widow  received  aid  from  the  fund. 

t  Removing  to  Charleston  he  met  with  the  South  Carolina  Society,  and  at  his  wife's  request  the  New  York 
Society  paid  her  fifty  dollars  on  the  i3th  of  December,  1796,  to  defray  her  expenses  to  get  to  him. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  235 

of  May,  1777,  noting  as  to  him  and  two  other  Second  Lieutenants,  "  no  former 
Continental  commission,  therefor  left  as  arranged  by  Convention."  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

CHRISTOPHER    HUTTON 

Lieutenant  and  Adjutant   2d  New    York  Regiment. 

The  following  sketch  furnished  by  the  Reverend  M.  S.  Hutton. 

Born  in  New  York  City  on  the  26th  of  April,  1756.  Died  on  the  i5th  of 
February,  1843. 

At  the  age  of  twenty  he  enlisted  as  a  volunteer,  and  was  appointed  Ensign 
in  the  3d  New  York  Regiment  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776.  Promoted  to 
be  Lieutenant  in  the  same  on  the  6th  of  February,  1779.  Transferred  to  the 
2d  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt — and  served  as  its  Adjutant. 
He  also  served  in  the  Northern  Department  attached  to  General  Clinton's 
Division,  and  at  Fort  Schuyler  volunteered,  going  through  the  enemy's  lines 
to  solicit  aid  from  General  Schuyler. 

He,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  with  his  brother,  Captain  Timothy  Hutton  (who 
also  had  served  as  an  Adjutant],  settled  on  the  Hudson  River,  about  seven 
miles  above  Albany,  where  they  formed  a  partnership,  erected  a  large  ware 
house,  and  then  became  the  leading  dealers  and  shippers  of  grain  and  produce 
of  that  section  of  the  State.  Shortly  afterwards,  the  residents  assembling  to 
determine  some  name  for  the  growing  settlement,  unconscious  that  it  might  in 
time  become  a  city,  he  suggested  that  it  be  named  u  Troy,"  and  as  there  were 
two  hills,  that  the  one  on  the  north  be  called  "  Mount  Olympus,"  and  that  on 
the  south  "  Mount  Ida.''  This  was  approved  and  adopted,  and  ever  since  have 
been  retained. 

Being  very  highly  esteemed  by  his  fellow  citizens,  in  1794  he  was  elected 
one  of  its  original  trustees,  and  subsequently  also  of  its  library,  a  director  in 
the  first  bank,  and  from  there  elected  a  member  of  the  Legislature.  He  was 
remarkable  for  his  frankness,  sturdy  honesty  and  patriotic  devotion  ;  tall  and 
finely  proportioned,  and  carried  himself  with  military  exactness.  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Marinus  Willett  presented  him  with  his  sword.  He  died  much  respected, 
leaving  no  issue.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

MANCIUS  SMEDES  HUTTON  (Reverend),  his  nephew  and  eldest  son 
of  his  brother,  Captain  Timothy  Hutton,  was  admitted  in  1856.  He  was  the 
Chaplain  of  the  Society  until  his  decease  in  1880. 

.MANCIUS  HOLMES  HUTTON  (Reverend},  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted 
in  1881,  and  chosen  Chaplain  in  his  father's  place. 


236  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

ABRAHAM     HYATT 

Lieutenant  ^th  New  York  Regiment. 

He  signed  as  an  Associator  for  Liberty  in  Beekman  Precinct,  Dutchess 
County,  in  1775.  In  1776  he  appears  as  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  Minute  Men 
of  Colonel  Jacobus  Swartwout's  Regiment  in  General  James  Clinton's  Brigade, 
and  as  recommended  by  him  for  the  Standing  Army. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  Eighth  Company  of  the  4th  New  York 
Regiment — Colonel  Henry  B.  Livingston's — on  the  9th  of  November,  1776,  and 
arranged,  with  that  rank,  on  the  2ist  of  that  month,  by  the  Committee  of  the 
Convention.  He  was  one  of  the  two  officers  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  notice 
of  Lieutenant  Hunt.  Promoted  Lieutenant  on  the  pth  of  November,  1777.  His 
name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

THOMAS    FREDERICK    JACKSON 

Lieutenant  2d  Light  Dagroons  and  Aide-de-Camp. 

He  was  commissioned  Cornet  in  the  2d  Regiment  Continental  Light  Dra 
goons — Colonel  Elisha  Sheldon's — on  the  23d  of  November,  1778,  and  promoted 
to  be  a  Lieutenant  in  the  same  on  the  i5th  of  November,  1779,  and  Regimental 
Adjutant  on  the  i8th  of  December,  1779. 

He  was  an  Aide-de-Camp  in  1781  to  Major-General  William  Alexander 
Lord  Stirling. 

Honorably  discharged  the  service,  with  his  regiment,  on  the  3d  of  Novem 
ber,  1783. 

He  resided  in  New  York  City  in  1794.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay 
Roll  as  from  Connecticut. 

CORNELIUS    T.    JANSEN 

Captain  \st  JVew  York  Regiment. 

^ 
He  was  a  resident  of  Ulster  County.     Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  in  the 

2d  Regiment  New  York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Van  Schaick's — on  the 
28th  of  June,  1775,  and  on  the  3oth  of  the  same  month  First  Lieutenant  in  the 
Seventh  Company  of  the  3d  or  Ulster  Regiment — Colonel  James  Clinton. 

Lewis  Du  Bois,  the  Captain  of  the  Fifth  Company,  on  the  26th  of  June, 
1776,  was  promoted  by  Congress  to  the  command  of  a  regiment,  which  was  the 
cause  of  much  confusion  and  dissatisfaction  of  himself  and  his  officers.  Jansen 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  237 

appears  to  have  served  in  it,  commissioned  as  a  Captain,  in  command  of  its 
Eighth  Company,  until  the  2ist  of  November,  1776.  From  that  date,  with  the 
same  rank,  he  was  transferred  again  to  the  3d  Regiment — then  Colonel  Ganse- 
voort's — and  subsequently  to  the  ist  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van 
Schaick's — with  which  he  appears  to  have  served  until  the  end  of  the  war. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


JAMES     JOHNSTON 

Lieutenant  2d  New  York  Regiment. 

He  enlisted  in  the  5th  New  York  Regiment,  as  Sergeant  Major  on  the  28th 
of  December,  1776,  and  was  commissioned  Ensign  on  the  25th  of  June,  1777; 
Quartermaster  23d  of  December,  1779  ;  Adjutant  i4th  of  July  following  ;  and 
after  the  consolidation,  Lieutenant  of  the  Eighth  Company  of  the  2d  New 
York  Regiment— Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's — and  served  with  it  to  the  end  of  the 
war.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

ROBERT     JOHNSTON 

Physician  and  Surgeon,   General  Hospital. 

By  resolution  of  Congress  he  was  sent  to  the  Southern  Department  on  duty 
in  South  Carolina  as  a  Physician  in  the  General  Hospital. 

He  made  two  voyages  to  China,  in  after  life,  recording  meteorological 
observations,  having  married  Eleanor  Pawling,  but  died  without  leaving  issue. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 

JOHN    KEESE 

Assistant  Deputy  Quartermaster. 

Born  at  Flushing,  L.  I.,  in  1755.     Died  at  Philadelphia  in  June,  1809. 

He  was  the  only  son  of  William  Keese  and  Mary  Bowne,  of  Flushing,  L.  I., 
where  he  was  reared  in  the  principles  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  but  which  he 
abandoned,  and  later  in  life  became  a  Presbyterian. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution  he  was  studying  law  in  New  Yrok 
with  Lindley  Murray,  the  grammarian,  but  subsequently  enlisted  and  succeeded 
in  getting  a  position  in  the  service  as  Assistant  Deputy-Quartermaster. 


238  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

While  stationed  at  Fishkill  he  married  Rhoda  Appleby,  by  whom  he  had  a 
large  family  of  children.  After  peace  was  declared  he  came  to  New  York 
and  began  practicing  law. 

Admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society  in  1800  to  membership,  and  in 
1807  was  elected  Assistant  Treasurer. 

His  remains  repose  in  Woodlawn  Cemetery,  N.  Y.  City.  His  name  appears 
on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 

WILLIAM  KEESE,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1810,  and  having 
married  a  daughter  of  the  Reverend  William  Linn,  he  died  in  March,  1819, 
leaving  two  sons — Reverend  William  Linn  *  and  John. 

WILLIAM  LINN  KEESE,  his  great  grandson,  was  admitted  in  1877.  He 
was  the  eldest  surviving  son  of  John  Keese. 

DANIEL    KEMPER 

Deputy  Clothier-  General. 

Born  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  in  1749.  Died  there  on  the  6th  of  August, 
1847. 

He  with  his  father  removed  to  New  York  City  in  1759.  He  was  descended 
from  Jacob  Kemper,  of  Bacharack,  a  fortified  town  on  the  Rhine,  and  who 
came  to  this  country  in  1741. 

The  following  sketch  of  his  life  is  taken  from  his  own  manuscript,  now  in 
the  possession  of  the  family  : 

"  I  engaged  in  the  service  of  my  country  at  the  earliest  commencement  of  the  Revolution  in 
Colonel  Jasper's  Regiment  and  General  Scott's  Brigade,  which  engaged  to  serve  for  six  months. 
I  was  at  the  Battle  of  White  Plains,  and  our  army  then  crossed  the  North  River  into  New  Jersey 
as  far  as  Newark. 

"  While  there  I  obtained  leave  to  move  my  family  from  Elizabeth  Town,  N.  J.  — where  I  had 
removed  them  from.  New  York— to  Newark.  I  removed  my  wife  and  three  children  without 
delay,  but  my  property  could  not  be  removed  for  want  of  teams.  The  Hessians  entered 
Elizabeth  town  by  the  dawn  of  day  the  next  morning  after  we  left  ;  and  although  my  father, 
Jacob  Kemper,  was  there,  the  Hessians  would  not  allow  him  to  take  anything  out  of  the  house. 
My  loss  on  that  occasion,  at '  the  lowest  estimate,  could  not  have  be,en  less  than  five  thousand 
dollars,  as  I  left  a  considerable  store  of  goods  and  a  house  well  furnished.  I  then  purchased  a 
small  place  in  Morristown,  N.  J.,  for  my  family,  and  there  they  remained  until  the  close  of  the 
Revolution. 

"After  my  six  months  service  of  enlistment  had  expired  I  did  duty  on  the  lines  as  a 
volunteer,  and  was  at  times  with  General  Maxwell.  Towards  Spring  information  was  brought  to 


*  Dr.  Hobart  Keese,  the  only  surviving  son  of  the  Reverend  William  Linn  Keese,  of 
New  Haven,  Conn.,  was  elected  to  membership  in  1860,  but  failed  to  subscribe  his  name  to  the 
Institution,  and  died  without  issue. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  239 

the  General  that  the  British  were  leaving  Elizabethtown,  and  myself  and  three  officers  obtained 
permission  to  go  and  reconnoitre  the  place.  On  entering  we  found  it  evacuated  by  the  British. 
Information  was  given  me  that  a  schooner  belonging  to  a  notorious  character  lay  aground  a  mile 
below,  laden  with  a  valuable  cargo,  but  she  was  full  of  troops.  I  obtained  some  volunteers  from 
General  Dayton,  and  proceeded  with  them  to  the  place  where  the  vessel  lay.  I  placed  my  men 
under  the  cover  of  a  small  knoll,  and  taking  a  flag,  went  to  the  beach  and  demanded  of  the 
commanding  officer  his  surrender.  He  was  Major  McDollard,  having  a  Captain,  Lieutenant, 
Sergeant,  sixty  privates  and  sixteen  women  on  board.  The  Major,  after  a  little  consultation, 
desired  me  to  come  on  board  the  vessel,  when  he  delivered  me  his  sword.  The  soldiers  and 
women  were  immediately  landed,  and  sent  off  under  guard.  I  then  went  with  the  Major  and 
presented  him  to  General  Dayton,  with  the  sword.  The  General  returned  the  sword  to  me, 
desiring  me  to  keep  it  as  a  trophy,  and  I  still  have  it  in  my  possession." 

Subsequently  he  received  the  position  of  Deputy  Clothicr-Gerieral,  and  was 
stationed  in  New  York. 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  like  many  other  officers,  he  was  nearly  destitute, 
with  a  large  family,  but  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  was  given  in 
1792,  an  appointment  in  the  New  York  Custom  House,  which  position  he 
retained  for  fourteen  years. 

He  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society  in  1802.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

SAMUEL  RELF  KEMPER,  his  grandson  and  son  of  the  late  Bishop 
David  Jackson  Kemper,  of  Wisconsin,  was  elected  a  member  of  this  Society  on 
the  4th  of  July,  1882,  but  has  not  yet  signed  the  Institution. 


JACOB  KEMPER 

Captain-Lieutenant  $3  Artillery,  Massachusetts. 

Born  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.     Died  in  1800. 

He  was  a  younger  brother  of  Daniel  Kemper,  and  volunteered  on  the  i5th 
of  September,  1775,  at  Brooklyn,  in  the  Kings  County  Light  Horse — Captain 
Adolph  Waldron — as  a  company  of  Minute  Men  for  service. 

Appointed  Ensign  of  the  ist  Regiment  New  Jersey  Continental  Infantry — 
Lord  Stirling's — on  the  ist  of  April,  1776. 

At  Ticonderoga,  on  the  gth  of  November,  1776,  he  was  appointed  First 
Lieutenant  of  the  3d  Regiment  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel  John 
Crane's — and  assigned  to  Captain  John  Winslow's  Company.  Promoted  to  be 
Captain-Lieutenant  on  the  5th  of  November,  1778. 

Honorably  discharged  the  service,  with  his  regiment,  on  the  3d  of  Novem 
ber,  1783. 

He  married  and  settled  at  Elizabethtown,  N.  J.  Was  a  brother-in-law  of 
the  "  little  God  of  War,"  General  Jacob  Morton,  who  married  his  sister,  Maria 


240  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Sophia  Kemper.  Died,  leaving  one  son,  who  went  to  South  America,  and  one 
daughter,  Sarah  (Mrs.  Abijah  Ferguson).  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- 
Pay  Roll. 

JOHN    LAMB 

Colonel    New    York    Artillery. 

Born  in  New  York  on  the  ist  of  January,  1735.  Died  there  on  the  3ist  of 
May,  1800. 

He  followed  his  father's  occupation,  an  optician  and  instrument  maker,  and 
when  the  Sons  of  Liberty  met  in  opposition  to  the  encroachments  of  the 
Ministry,  he  united  with  them,  and  being  a  clever  writer  and  fluent  speaker, 
soon  became  prominent. 

Appointed  on  the  3oth  of  June,  1775,  Captain  of  the  New  York  Provincial 
Artillery  Company,  which  was  ordered  to  Canada,  and  arrived  at  the  camp 
near  St.  Johns,  on  the  2oth  of  September,  participating  in  the  siege  and  capture 
of  that  place. 

In  the  desperate  assault  before  Quebec,  on  the  3ist  of  December,  he  was 
struck  on  the  let't  cheek  by  a  fragment  of  a  grape-shot,  carrying  away  part  of 
the  bone,  and  was,  with  others,  taken  prisoner  and  carried  to  a  convent  used  as 
an  hospital. 

The  minutes  of  the  State  Committee  of  Safety,  in  April,  1776,  record  the 
following  : 

"  One  of  Lamb's  men  escaped,  went  into  the  Bombproof  in  the  yard,  jumped  over  the  wall 
and  over  the  city  wall.  Said  he  had  heard  of  Lamb,  that  he  had  lost  his  left  eye — well  otherwise. 
2,500  troops  there.  Snow  deep,  when  he  came  away." 

While  a  prisoner,  on  the  gth  of  January,  1776,  he  was  promoted  by 
the  Continental  Congress  to  the  command,  with  the  rank  of  Major,  of  the 
artillery  in  the  Northern  Department,  a  reward  for  his  activity  and  spirited 
conduct. 

Having  been,  on  the  30!  of  August,  1776,  paroled  by  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  he 
arrived  in  a  cartel  at  Elizabethtown,  N.  J.,  on  the  2oth  of  September,  and  was 
soon  afterward  exchanged,  as  Major  of  Colonel  Henry  Knox's  Regiment  of 
Artillery. 

On  the  ist  of  January,  1777,  he  was  appointed  by  Washington,  under  the 
authority  of  Congress  on  the  27th  of  December,  1776,  Colonel  of  the  2d  Regi 
ment  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery,  under  General  Knox. 

In  the  action  at  Campo  Hill,  28th  of  April,  1777,  he  was  again  struck  by 
a  grape-shot  and  severely  wounded.  On  the  6th  of  March,  1779,  he  was 
appointed  Surveyor  of  Ordnance.  .  He  commanded  his  regiment  at  the  Siege 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  24! 

of  Yorktown,  where  the  extraordinary  skill  and  accuracy  of  the  American 
artillery  surprised  the  French  allies. 

On  the  3oth  of  September,  1783,  he  was  appointed  Brigadier-General  (by 
brevet),  and  on  the  3d  of  November,  1783,  was  honorably  discharged  the 
service  with  his  regiment. 

He  was  elected,  in  1784,  a  member  of  the  New  York  Legislature,  and 
appointed  by  it  Collector  of  Customs  for  the  Port  of  New  York,  and  retained 
this  position  until  his  death.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

ANTHONY  LAMB,  his  only  son,  was  admitted  in  1800,  and  died  on  the 
i3th  of  May,  1855,  having  been  elected  by  this  Society  Treasurer  in  1842, 
Vice- President  in  1844  and  President  in  1848. 

JOHN  LAMB,  eldest  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted  in  1857,  and  died  at 
New  -Haven  on  the  i6th  of  October,  1883. 

GARRET    LANSING* 

Ensign  \st  New  York  Regiment. 

Appointed  Ensign  of  the  3d  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Gansevoort's — 
on  the  6th  of  February,  1779  ;  and  subsequently,  under  the  consolidation  of 
the  New  York  Line,  was  on  the  ist  of  January,  1781,  transferred  to  the  Fifth 
Company  of  the  ist  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Schaick's—  and  mus 
tered  to  January,  1782. 

William  F.  Lansing,  of  Little  Falls,  N.  Y.,  writes  the  following: 

"  I  have  for  the  past  ten  years,  from  time  to  time,  gathered  what  facts  I  could  in  regard  to 
the  subject  of  your  inquiry.  I  have  that  his  name  in  full  was  Gerrit  G.  Lansing.  He  was  born 
in  Albany  on  the  nth  of  December,  1760,  married  Mannette,  the  daughter  of  Colonel  Edward 
Antill,  and  died  at  Oriskany,  N.  Y.,  on  the  27th  of  May,  1831.  He  was  the  fourth  son  of 
Gerrit  I.  Lansing,  and  a  younger  brother  of  John  Lansing,  the  Chancellor.  He  enlisted  in  the 
ist  New  York  Regiment  as  Ensign,  and  served  from  the  beginning  to  the  close  of  the  war. 
Was  present  in  many  engagements,  and  at  Yorktown  under  Colonel  Hamilton  led  the  '  Forlorn 
Hope'  as  Lieutenant." 

His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll  as  Garret  G.  Lansing,  Lieutenant, 
of  New  York. 

RICHARD  RAY  LANSING,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1832,  and 
died  en  the  29th  of  September,  1855. 

EDWARD  ANTILL  LANSING,  eldest  son  of  last,  was  admitted  in  1856, 
and  died  on  the  i2th  of  June,  1868,  at  Detroit. 

*  The  signature  to  the  Institution  is,  "  G.  Lansing:  Ensign  ist  N.  Y.  Regiment,1'  and  the  question  has  been 
raised  whether  the  Ensign  Garret  Lansing  and  Lieutenant  Gerrit  G.  Lansing  were  identical. 


242  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

JOHN    LAURANCE 

Judge- Advocate-  General. 

Born  at  Cornwall,  England,  in  1750.  Died  in  New  York  on  the  nth  of 
November,  1810. 

He  came  to  New  York  in  1767,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1772. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  4th  Regiment  New  York  Continental 
Infantry — Colonel  James  Holmes'— on  the  ist  of  August,  1775.  Aidc-dc-Camp 
to  his  father-in-law,  General  McDougall,  and  in  1777  he  was  on  the  staff  of 
General  Washington. 

At  the  trial  of  Major  Andre  he  was  the  Ji^lge  Advocate. 

In  1783,  resuming  his  profession,  the  practice  of  the  law  at  the  Bar  of 
New  York,  he  became  a  Member  of  Congress  and  also  of  the  Board  of 
Regents  of  the  University  ;  a  trustee  of  Columbia  College  ;  a  State  Senator  in 
1789,  and  again  a  Member  of  Congress  in  1789-1793  ;  Judge  of  the  United 
States  District  Court  of  New  York,  1794-1796,  and  United  States  Senator 
from  New  York,  1796-1800,  presiding  in  1798. 

Drake  speaks  of  him  as  follows  : 

"  He  was  a  zealous  and  able  defender  of  the  administration  of  Washington.  Upon  the 
questions  of  neutrality,  currency,  finance  and  especially  the  commercial  interests  of  the  country, 
he  evinced  great  comprehensiveness  and  foresight." 

His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll  as  Judge- Advocate-General. 


JONATHAN    LAWRENCE 

Captain  Sappers  and  Miners. 

Died  on  the  27th  of  April,  1802. 

He  appears  to  have  been  elected  at  Jamaica,  on  the  22d  of  May,  1775,  a 
delegate  from  Queens  County  in  the  Provincial  Congress,  and  on  the  26th  as 
signing  its  association  and  declaration  of  rights.  On  the  i5th  of  December 
following  he,  with  John  Grennell,  Samuel  Bayard  and  William  Bedlow  (com 
mittee),  were  directed  to  provide  barracks  and  subsistence  for  one  thousand 
men  on  the  Hudson  River  ;  and  on  the  9th  of  May,  1777,  he  was  appointed 
one  of  the  commissioners  to  superintend  the  manufacture  of  gun  flints,  sulphur, 
lead  and  salt,  and 

"  That  they  have  power  to  expend  upon  such  manufactures  a  Sum  not  exceeding  three 
thousand  Pounds,  and  to  draw  upon  the  Treasury  of  this  State  for  that  Sum;  and  that  they  be 
further  allowed  the  Sum  of  fifty  Pounds  each,  for  the- trouble  and  expense  in  the  service  aforesaid. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  243 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Sum  of  forty  Shillings  be  allowed  as  a  Bounty  for  every  hundred 
weight  of  good  lead  made  from  the  ore  within  this  State  by  any  private  adventurer  on  or  before 
the  ist  of  May  1778  That  the  Sum  of  sixteen  Shillings  be  allowed  as  a  Bounty  for  every 
hundred  weight  of  good  Sulphur  so  manufactured  as  aforesaid  within  this  State,  before  the  said 
ist  of  May  1778.  That  the  Sum  of  ten  Shillings  be  allowed  for  each  Bushel  of  good  Salt  manu 
factured  as  aforesaid  within  this  State  from  Salt  Springs  or  Mines,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of 
December  next.  And  that  the  Sum  of  two  Shillings  be  allowed  for  every  hundred  good  gun 
flints,  made  within  this  State,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  May  1778,  and  that  the  Said  several 
bounties  be  paid  as  follows,  to  wit  :  The  party  claiming  the  Said  bounty  shall  make  proof  before 
one  of  the  Said  Commissioners,  that  he  is  entitled  to  Such  Bounty,  and  thereupon  such  Commis 
sioner  Shall  make  a  Certificate  in  his  favor  of  his  being  entitled  to  the  Bounty,  which  Shall  be  a 
warrant  to  the  Treasurer  for  paying  the  Same. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  State  have  the  pre-emption  of  the  Several  articles  above  mentioned 
upon  which  Such  Bounty  Shall  be  given  as  aforesaid." 

The  Committee  of  New  Windsor  Precinct,  on  the  3ist  of  May,  1776,  reports 
to  the  Provincial  Congress  as  follows  : 

"  It  gives  us  pain  to  find  any  Person  Counteracting  the  orders  of  Congress,  and  then  goes 
on  to  report  that  a  relative  of  Captain  Jonathan  Lawrence,  who  is  a  Commissioner  of  Congress 
at  Fort  Constitution,  and  his  Son,  a  clerk  there,  both  in  the  pay  of  the  Continent  *  *  *  early 
in  this  Spring  Settled  in  the  Precinct  and  opened  a  Shop  here,  then  Knowlingly,  contrary  to  the 
desire  of  Congress,  has  retailed  Bohea  tea  at  8  Shillings  per  Ib  and  to  evade  the  Resolve  in  that 
respect  pretend  to  sell  tea  at  6  Shillings  per  Ib  but  will  not  let  the  purchaser  have  the  tea, 
unless  they  take  a  paper  bag  to  put  it  in,  at  2  Shillings,  and  so  in  proportion  for  a  greater  or  less 
quantity.  It  proceeds  warmly  to  Show  that  this  has  disgusted  the  inhabitants,  as  they  conceive 
it  as  a  Kind  of  insult  to  have  that  Fortress  made  an  Asylum  for  that  useless  herb,  and  the  illegal 
venders  of  it." 

He  married,  first,  Janette  Neal,  of  Burlington,  N.  J.,  by  whom  he  had 
several  children.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

CHARLES  C.  LAWRENCE,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1825,  and 
died  in  1854. 


NATHANIEL    LAWRENCE 

Lieutenant   2d  North    Carolina   Regiment. 

His  name  appears  on  the  roll  of  members  of  the  New  York  State  Society 
returned  to  the  General  Society  in  May,  1788,  as  a  member  of  the  North 
Carolina  State  Society.* 

Appointed  Ensign  in  the  2d  North  Carolina  Regiment — Colonel  John  Patten 
— on  the  4th  of  September,  1778,  and  subsequently  promoted  to  be  a  Lieutenant 
in  the  same. 

He  or  one  of  his  name  appear  in  the  records  as  an  Associator  for  liberty  in 
Orange  Town,  Orange  County,  on  the  i7th  of  July,  1775,  and  in  the  next  year 

*  See  ante,  page  84. 


244  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

to  have  been  attached  to  the  armed  schooner  "  General  Putnam,"  and  mak 
ing  a  complaint  against  her  captain  (Cregier)  for  inefficiency  and  violence, 
and  asking  that  he  be  cashiered.  On  the  5th  of  September  of  the  same  year 
he  also  appears  as  a  member  of  a  military  company  in  West  Farms,  Westchester 
County,  N.  Y.  Whether  these  are  or  either  of  them  the  officer  in  question  is 
uncertain.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


GEORGE    LEAYCRAFT 

Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Born  in  New  York  City.     Died  there  in  April,  1811. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  2d  Regiment  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — 
Colonel  Lamb's — on  the  ist  of  January,  1777.  Assigned  from  Captain  Andrew 
Moodie's  to  Captain  Gershom  Mott's  company  on  the  23d  of  November,  1779. 
Promoted  to  be  First  Lieutenant  of  the  same  on  the  2ist  of  August,  1780. 
Honorably  discharged,  with  his  regiment,  on  the  3d  of  November,  1783. 

His  widow  received  aid  from  the  fund.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay 
Roll. 


WILLIAM    LEAYCRAFT 

Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Born  on  the  26th  of  October,  1757,  at  Demerara.  Died  on  the  7th  of  June, 
1827. 

Appointed  Lieutenant  in  the  2d  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel 
Lamb's — on  the  28th  of  June,  1/81,  and  assigned  to  Captain  Savage's  com 
pany.  Honorably  discharged  the  service,  with  his  regiment,  on  the  3d  of 
November,  1783. 

He  married  Eleanor,  daughter  of  Jacobus  Bogert,  and  left  two  sons  and 
two  daughters.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half -Pay  Roll. 

WILLIAM  HENDERSON  LEAYCRAFT,  his  second  son,  was  admitted 
in  1827,  his  elder  brother,  Viner  Leaycraft,  having  died  in  the  service  in  the 
war  of  1812,  at  Sacket's  Harbor,  leaving  issue  only  a  daughter,  who,  in  1830, 
married  the  Portuguese  wine  merchant  Paul  Joachim  Figueira. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  245 

BENJAMIN    LEDYARD 

Major  \st  New  York  Regiment. 

The   following  sketch   is  compiled  from   John   Austin   Steven's   paper. 

Born  March  5th,  1753,  at  Groton,  Conn.  Died  November  gth,  1803,  at 
Aurora,  N.  Y. 

He  was  the  son  of  Youngs  Ledyard,  and  was  brought  up  in  the  family  of 
his  grandfather,  John  Ledyard,  at  Hartford,  with  his  brother  Isaac  and  his 
cousin  John,  later  known  as  "the  Traveler."  Afterwards  he  was  in  the 
store  of  Peter  Vandervoort,  Of  New  York,  who  was  the  husband  of  his  aunt, 
Sarah  Ledyard.  Mr.  Vandervoort  was  engaged  in  the  hardware  business  and 
as  an  importer  of  this  class  of  merchandise  before  the  Revolution,  and  his 
nephew  had  been  admitted  to  partnership  about  that  time. 

On  the  outbreak  of  hostilities,  Benjamin  Ledyard — although  recently  mar 
ried  to  Catharine,  daughter  of  Samuel  Forman,  of  Middletown,  Perm.,  on  the 
22d  of  January,  1775 — at  once  enlisted,  and  raised  a  company,  which,  accord 
ing  to  a  tradition  in  the  family,  was  known  as  the  "  Hairy  Caps."  They 
were  enrolled  in  the  ist  Regiment  New  York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel 
Alexander  McDougall  commanding — in  which  Benjamin  Ledyard  was  com 
missioned  Captain  on  the  28th  of  June,  1775.  McDougall's  regiment  went  to 
Quebec  in  the  Winter,  but  apparently  Captain  Ledyard  was  left  behind,  as  he 
appears  issuing  warrants  to  a  recruiting  officer  of  the  Third  Company  New 
York  Continentals  in  February,  1776.  In  the  arrangement  of  the  New  York 
Line,  by  a  Committee  of  the  New  York  Convention,  November  2ist,  1776, 
he  was  promoted  to  Major,  Henry  B.  Livingston  being  made  Colonel  in  the 
place  of  McDougall,  who  was  already  serving  as  Brigadier-General.  General 
McDougall  wrote  to  the  Committee,  recommending  Ledyard's  promotion  as  the 
second  in  the  regiment,  and  "the  man  the  corps  have  their  eye  on  for  major," 
and  added  he  thought  him  by  far  the  best  qualified  for  it.  There  seemed  to 
have  been  some  uncertainty  about  his  acceptance,  probably  on  account  of  his 
health,  which,  never  strong,  soon  broke  down  entirely.  He  was  engaged  at 
the  battle  of  White  Plains  in  1776.  He  was  at  the  Battle  of  Monmouth 
either  with  his  command  or  while  at  home  on  a  furlough,  his  regiment  being 
stationed  at  West  Point  with  the  forces  posted  there  for  the  protection  of  the 
Hudson  Highlands.  At  Monmouth  his  horse  was  shot  under  him.  There  is  a 
tradition  that  after  this  battle  a  British  armed  vessel,  driven  ashore,  was 
captured  by  the  militia,  and  that  Major  Ledyard  prepared  the  articles  of 
capitulation,  parolling  the  officers.  His  health  failing  him,  he  found  himself 
unable  to  perform  field  duty,  and  on  the  26th  of  March,  1779,  as  appears  from 


246  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

the  petition  of  his  son  for  his  father's  share  of  the  lands  allotted  Revolutionary 
soldiers,  he  resigned  his  commission  and  withdrew  from  active  service.  He 
continued,  however,  to  render  effectual  assistance  as  a  volunteer  with  the 
militia  in  cases  of  invasion  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

The  army  was  in  sore  need  of  salt,  and  the  Government  urged  its  manu 
facture.  Major  Ledyard  became  superintendent  of  a  company  engaged  in  this 
business  at  Barnegat. 

At  the  peace  he  returned  to  New  York,  and  renewed  his  commercial  pur 
suits,  forming  a  partnership  with  Colonel  Walker,  the  Aide  of  Baron  Steuben. 
This  partnership  was  dissolved  April  2oth,  1785,  after  which  he  continued  his 
mercantile  pursuits  with  his  brother,  Dr.  Isaac  Ledyard,  for  a  time.  He 
finally  withdrew  to  Middletown  and  opened  a  country  store.  In  1793  the 
military  bounty  lands  of  New  York  were  allotted  in  Onondaga  County,  and 
Major  Ledyard,  receiving  the  appointment  of  the  Clerk  of  the  County,  removed 
to  the  village  of  Aurora,  and  there  established  his  office  and  built  a  cottage,  in 
which  he  resided  with  his  family,  and  which  was  standing  in  1843.  Here  he 
was  visited  by  his  fellow  soldiers,  some  of  whom,  among  others  Aaron  Burr, 
bought  lands  in  the  neighborhood.  The  fever  for  speculation  in  western 
lands  was  high  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  and  the  fertile  valleys  of  New 
York  were  the  favorite  field.  The  town  was  first  named  Scipio,  but  later  was 
divided.  The  new  town  set  aside  embraced  the  village  of  Aurora,  in  which  he 
had  his  home,  and  received  the  name  of  Ledyard  in  his  honor. 

By  his  first  wife,  Catharine  Forman,  he  had  ten  children. 

BENJAMIN  LEDYARD,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1804,  elected 
Secretary  in  1810,  and  died  in  New  York  on  the  26th  of  October,  1812,  having 
married  Susan  F.,  the  daughter  of  Colonel  Henry  Brockholst  Livingston,  on  the 
3d  of  April,  1811. 

HENRY  LEDYARD,  only  son  of  the  last,  was  elected  to  membership  in 
his  grandfather's  right  in  1852.  He  died  in  1880  at  Paris,  having  married 
Matilda,  the  daughter  of  General  Lewis  Cass. 

HENRY  BROCKHOLST  LEDYARD,  eldest  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted 

in  1882.  j 

ISAAC  LEDYARD 

Surgeon's  Mate. 

Born  at  Groton,  Conn.,  on  the  5th  of  November,  1754.  Died  on  Staten 
Island,  N.  Y.,  on  the  28th  of  August,  1803. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  247 

He  was  the  youngest  brother  of  Major  Benjamin  Ledyard.  Came  to  New 
York  and  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  John  Bard. 

Appointed  Surgeon's  Mate  of  the  ist  New  York  Continental  Infantry — 
Colonel  McDougall — by  commission  dated  2oth  of  March,  1776,  and  subse 
quently  assigned  as  Assistant  Medical  Purveyor  at  Fishkill,  N.  Y.,  and  it  is 
stated  that  he  served  as  Hospital  Surgeon  to  the  close  of  the  war. 

He  resided  at  the  house  of  Colonel  Roger  Morris,  on  the  Harlem  River, 
which  successively  was  used  as  headquarters  by  both  armies.  On  the  i3th  of 
March,  1785.  he  married  Ann  Me  Arthur,  and  immediately  resumed  the 
practice  of  his  profession  in  New  York  City. 

In  1795  he  removed  to  a  farm  of  two  hundred  acres  near  Newtown,  L.  I., 
which  was  carefully  cultivated,  having  extensive  outbuildings  and  large  herds 
of  cattle.  There  he  had  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton  for  a  neighbor,  and  attended 
him  in  his  duel  in  August,  1799,  in  which  he  wounded  his  adversary,  John 
Swartwout.  He  was  a  man  of  literary  ability,  a  writer  in  the  heated  contro 
versy  of  that  period  in  opposition  to  the  Federal  Party  ;  a  Presidential  Elector 
in  1800,  casting  his  vote  for  Jefferson.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  serving 
as  Health  Officer  of  the  Port  of  New  York  at  Staten  Island. 

Thompson,  the  historian  of  Long  Island,  speaks  of  him  : 

"  He  was  a  gentleman  of  polished  manners,  affable  and  of  wonderful  conversational  powers. 
His  reading  was  expressive,  his  observations  acute,  and  his  information  on  most  subjects  large 
and  accurate.  The  death  of  such  a  man  was  not  only  a  great  calamity  to  his  family  but  to  the 
public." 

He  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society  in  1786.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


ABRAHAM   LEGGETT 

Lieutenant  $th  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  on  the  3d  of  January,  1754,  at  West  Farms,  Westchester  County,  N.  Y. 
Died  on  the  i6th  of  January,  1842. 

He  was  the  great  grandson  of  Gabriel  Leggett,  who  came  from  Essex 
County,  England,  in  1661,  and  acquired  a  large  estate  on  "Great  Planting 
Neck,"  since  known  as  "  Leggett's  Point,"  and  whose  son  became  Mayor  of 
the  Borough  of  Westchester  in  1734.  In  a  petition  to  the  Provincial  Congress, 
on  the  5th  of  September,  1775,  he  asked  with  others  for  a  separate  district  for 
"the  militia  of  the  Manor  of  Fordham  and  West  Farms,  claiming  that  the 
rendezvous  at  the  Borough  Town  of  Westchester  was  too  remote.  On  the 
25th  of  October  he  was  chosen,  with  Thomas  Hunt,  the  Committee  of  Inspec- 


248  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

tion  at  the  election  of  the  officers  of  this  new  company,  and  subsequently  a 
member  of  the  County  Committee. 

In  July,  1776,  he  entered  a  volunteer  corps  that  was  formed  at  Poughkeepsie 
under  Colonel  Bernardus  Swartwout,  and  joined  the  army  on  Long  Island  the 
day  after  the  Battle  of  Flatbush.  His  company  was  at  first  on  the  left,  but 
afterwards  the  rear  guard. 

He  took  part  in  the  engagements  at  Harlem  Heights  and  White  Plains,  and 
shared  in  the  sufferings  of  the  army  in  the  Winter  of  1777  in  New  Jersey.  In 
January  he  received  a  commission  in  the  standing  army,  unexpected  but 
eagerly  accepted.  He  was  appointed  Ensign  in  the  5th  New  York  Regiment 
— Colonel  Du  Bois — ranking  from  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  serving  in  the 
Seventh  Company,  and  was  afterward  promoted  to  Lieutenant  of  the  same. 

Employed  as  a  recruiting  officer  at  Bedford,  Westchester  County,  he  was 
ordered  to  Fort  Montgomery,  where  he  became  a  prisoner  of  war,  when  it  was 
taken,  and  suffered  great  privations  and  cruelties,  until  paroled  on  Long  Island. 

In  1838  he  was  chosen  the  Vice-President  of  this  Society. 

By  his  first  wife,  Rebecca  Morgan,  he  had  but  one  daughter,  Mrs.  James 
Breath,  but  left  a  large  family  by  his  second,  Catharine  Wyly.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

ABRAHAM  ALSOP  LEGGETT,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1842,  and 
died  in  March,  1869. 

WILLIAM  HENRY  LEGGETT,  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted  in  1870, 
and  died,  unmarried,  on  the  nth  of  April,  1882. 

PAUL  ERNEST  TIEMANN,  M.D.,  his  great-greatgrandson,  through  the 
eldest  female,  Mrs.  James  Breath,  was  admitted  in  the  succession  in  1885,  the 
direct  male  line  having  become  extinct. 


MORGAN  LEWIS 

Staff  rank  of  Colonel  ami  Quartermasters-General. 

Born  in  New  York  City  on  the  i6th  of  October,  1754,  and  died  there  on  the 
7th  of  April,  1844. 

He  was  the  second  son  of  Francis  Lewis,  "the  signer,"  who  emigrated  to 
this  country  from  Wales,  England.  He  went  to  a  school  in  Elizabeth,  N.  J.; 
entered  and  graduated  with  honor  from  Princeton,  and  studied  law  in  the  office 
of  John  Jay. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  249 

In  June,  1775,  ne  joined  the  army  at  Cambridge  as  a  volunteer,  and  was  in 
August  of  that  year  appointed  Captain  of  a  rifle  company  in  New  York,  and  on 
the  6th  of  October  of  the  same  year  Major  of  the  2d  Regiment  of  New  York 
Militia.  In  June,  1776,  he  was  an  Aide  to  Gates  with  staff  rank  of  Colonel,  and 
on  the  following  23d  of  August,  by  act  of  Congress,  appointed  Quartermaster- 
General  oi  the  Northern  Department,  with  headquarters  at  Ticonderoga.  After 
Burgoyne's  surrender,  he  was  detailed  to  take  charge  of  the  British  troops. 

He  accompaned  Governor  Clinton  in  the  expedition  up  the  Mohawk,  and 
again  in  1780  to  Crown  Point  to  intercept  a  second  invasion. 

Having  married  Gertrude,  the  daughter  of  Robert  Livingston,  the  Judge, 
of  Clermont,  he  practiced  law,  after  the  peace,  in  Dutchess  County,  and  was 
successively  Attorney-General  of  the  State,  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and 
in  1801  Chief-Justice  ;  Governor  of  New  York  State  in  1804,  and  a  member  of 
the  Legislature  from  1808  to  1811. 

In  the  War  of  1812  he  served  with  the  rank  of  Brigadier-General,  Quarter 
master  and  Major-General,  and  in  1814  was  in  command  at  New  York  City. 

President  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society  in  1835,  having  delivered  the 
centennial  address  in  honor  of  Washington  in  1832,  being  President  of  this 
Society  at  that  time,  and  in  1839  President  General,  both  of  which  positions 
he  held  until  his  decease.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll.* 

MORGAN  LEWIS  LIVINGSTON,  his  eldest  grandson  (by  his  only  child, 
Margaret,  who  married  Maturin  Livingston),  was  admitted  in  1854,  in  accord 
ance  with  the  resolution  passed  by  the  General  Society  in  1829.! 

SAMUEL  LEWIS 

Lieutenant  is/  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  25th  of  August,  1822. 

Appointed  Ensign  of  the  3d  New  York  Regiment  on  the  2ist  of  Novem 
ber,  1776 — Colonel  Gansevoort's — and  promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  in  the  same 
on  the  ist  of  May,  1780.  Transferred  to  Bleecker's  Company  in  the  ist  New 
York  Regiment — ColonelN?j\  Schaick's — after  the  Consolidation,  ist  of  Janu 
ary,  1781,  and  mustered  to  1782.  He  resided  at  Northumberland,  N.  Y.,  and 
married  Sarah  Van  Volkenburg,  of  Albany,  by  whom  he  had  seven  sons  and 
one  daughter.  Professor  Tayler  Lewis,  of  the  New  York  University  and 
Union  College,  remarkable  for  his  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Greek  dialect, 

*  Mrs.  Julia  Delafield,  his  granddaughter,  in  1877  published  a  very  interesting  memorial  of  him. 
t  See  ante,  page  48. 


250  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

was  his  fourth   son,  and  served  on  the  last   committee   to   revise   the    Bible, 
but  died  before  its  completion. 

Samuel  Lewis  was  a  member  of  the  New  State  Legislature,  from  Saratoga 
County,  from  1804  to  1810.     His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


BROCK  HOLST    LIVINGSTON* 

Staff  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel^  Aide-de-Camp. 

Born  in  New  York  on  the  25th  of  November,  1757.  Died  at  Washington, 
D.  C.,  on  the  i7th  of  March,  1823. 

His  father,  William  Livingston  (one  of  the  most  distinguished  members  of 
that  family,  which  contributed  so  many  representative  men),  settled  in  New 
Jersey  in  1773,  served  in  the  first  Continental  Congress  in  1774,  and  as  the 
Governor  of  New  Jersey  in  1776. 

He  left  college  in  New  Jersey  (Princeton)  at  the  age  of  19;  was  on  the 
staff  of  General  Schuyler  in  the  Northern  Department,  with  St.  Clair  at  the  fall 
of  Ticonderoga,  and  subsequently  an  Aide  to  Arnold  in  the  Battle  of  Saratoga, 
and  at  Burgoyne's  surrender  with  staff  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

In  1779  he  accompanied,  as  secretary,  his  brother-in-law,  John  Jay,  then 
Minister  to  Spain.  Returning  in  1782,  was  captured  by  a  British  cruiser,  and 
imprisoned  in  New  York,  but  released  when  Sir  Guy  Carleton  assumed  com 
mand.  A  member  of  the  New  York  Legislature  in  1788  and  1800,  and  a 
trustee  of  Columbia  College.  He  practiced  law,  and  was  chosen  one  of  the 
Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  York  in  1802,  and  in  November,  1806, 
one  of  the  Judges  of  the  United  States  Court,  which  he  retained  until  his 
death.  The  selection  of  him  as  a  Regent  of  the  New  York  University  in  1784, 
and  the  degree  of  LL.D.  from  Harvard  in  1818,  were  among  the  tributes 
accorded  to  his  talents. 

He  married  three  times,  and  left  a  large  family  of  children.  His  name 
appears  upon  the  Half-Pay  Roll  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  Brockholst  Livingston. 

> 

CARROLL  LIVINGSTON,  his  eldest  surviving  son,  was  admitted  in  1854, 
and  died  in  1867. 

CHARLES  CARROLL  LIVINGSTON,  his  grandson,  only  surviving  son 
of  the  last,  was  admitted  in  1868. 


*  His   name   was   Henry    Brockholst    Livingston,    but   he   omitted    his   first    name,    the    more   readily  to   be 
distinguished  from  his  relative,  Colonel  Henry  Beekman  Livingston. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  251 

HENRY   BEEKMAN  LIVINGSTON 

Aide-de-Camp  and  Colonel  £th  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  at  the  Manor  on  the  Qth  of  November,  1750.  Died  at  his  country 
seat,  in  Dutchess  County,  on  the  5th  of  November,  1831. 

He  was  a  son  of  Judge  Robert  R.  Livingston,  of  Clermont,  and  Margaret, 
the  daughter  of  Colonel  Henry  Beekman. 

In  August,  1775,  he  raised  a  company,  and  joined  his  brother-in-law,  General 
Richard  Montgomery,  on  his  expedition  to  Montreal,  and  was  with  him  when 
he  fell  before  Quebec. 

Appointed  by  General  Philip  Schuyler  in  February,  1776,  one  of  his  Aides, 
and  in  May  following  attained  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel.  In  accordance 
with  the  act  of  Congress  passed  on  the  i6th  of  September,  1776,  regulating 
the  quotas  to  be  furnished  by  the  different  States  in  the  Continental  Establish 
ment,  he  was  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  commissioned  Colonel  of  the  4th 
New  York  Battalion  or  Regiment.  On  the  i3th  of  January,  1779,  he  resigned 
from  the  service,  it  is  claimed,  on  account  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Philip  Van 
Cortlandt  desiring  the  command. 

At  the  Battle  of  Brandywine  he  was  severely  wounded,  leading  an  assault, 
and  in  the  engagement  at  Quaker  Hill,  R.  I.,  was  especially  distinguished. 
Congress  in  December,  1775,  presented  him,  in  accordance  with  a  resolution 
to  that  effect,  with  a  sword  for  services  rendered  in  the  capture  of  Chambly. 

After  the  war  he  was  appointed  Attorney-General,  and  subsequently  one  of 
the  Chief-Justices  of  the  State  of  New  York.  When  the  second  war  for  inde 
pendence  broke  out,  in  1812,  he  again  gave  himself  to  arms  for  his  country's 
defence,  attaining  the  rank  of  Major-General. 

In  March,  1781,  he  married  Miss  Ann  Horn  Shippen,  of  Philadelphia,  by 
whom  he  had  but  one  child,  Margaret,  who  died  unmarried.  His  elder  brother, 
Robert  R.,  was  known  as  "the  Chancellor,"  and  his  youngest,  Edward,  was  the 
Statesman  and  Minister  to  France.  He  was  also  a  distant  relative  of  Colonel 
James  Livingston.* 


*  Colonel  James  Livingston  appears  to  have  been  unaccountably  neglected  in  history.  He 
was  born  in  Canada  in  1747,  and  died  in  Saratoga,  N.  Y.,  on  the  2Oth  of  November,  1832.  He 
was  connected  with  many  of  the  founders  ot  the  Cincinnati  Society,  and  eminently  fitted  to  have 
been  one.  His  father,  John  Livingston,  of  Stillwater,  N.  Y.,  was  the  youngest  son  of  Robert 
Livingston,  nephew  and  namesake  of  the  first  proprietor  of  the  Livingston  Manor.  His  mother 
was  Catharine,  the  daughter  of  General  Abraham  Ten  Broeck,  who  had  settled  in  Canada.  He 
and  his  two  brothers  joined  General  Montgomery — their  kinsman  by  marriage — on  his  arrival 


252  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

The  following  account  of  his  meeting  with  La  Fayette  is  interesting  : 

"In  1824  the  Marquis  made  his  triumphal  journey  through  the  United  States.  A  steam 
boat  was  taken  off  the  line  and  placed  at  his  disposition  in  New  York,  and  he  and  his  suite 
proceeded  immediately  up  the  Hudson,  and  paid  General  Lewis  a  visit  at  Staatsburgh.  A  colla 
tion  was  ready  for  them,  and  after  remaining  with  us  a  few  hours  he  returned  to  the  steamboat, 
which  was  in  waiting  at  the  General's  private  dock,  and  we  were  all  invited  to  join  his  party  and 
accompany  him  to  Clermont. 

"  When  we  arrived  abreast  of  the  Rhinebeck  landing,  the  steamboat  was  hailed  by  a  row- 
boat.  The  Captain  stopped,  and  Colonel  Henry  Beekman  Livingston,  who  had  been  the  Colonel 


there,   and  all  became  officers  ;     he  a  Colonel,  Richard  a  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  Abraham  a 
Captain. 

When  the  expedition  failed,  the  troops  returned  home,  and  he,  cut  off  from  further  recruiting 
in  Canada,  appears  by  a  letter  dated  from  New  York  and  now  among  the  State  archives, 
addressed  to  John  Jay,  then  in  the  Provincial  Congress,  as  occupied  in  filling  up  his  command  in 
that  city  : 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  am  just  now  informed  by  Captain  Wright  that  he  can  raise  a  company  of  men  in  this  town  and 
suburbs.  Should  take  it  a  particular  favor  if  you'd  mention  the  matter  to  the  Gentlemen  of  the  Provincial  Congress, 
and  if  approved  beg  you'll  furnish  him  the  money  for  that  purpose.  He  is  a  good  recruiting  officer,  and  I  believe 
he'll  soon  raise  a  company.  I  shall  settle  the  matter  respecting  the  rank  of  the  officers  with  General  Schuyler, 
agreeable  to  the  order  from  Congress,  as  soon  as  these  two  companies — Wright's  and  Stewarts — are  filled,  General 
Washington  will  order  them  to  the  northward  where  I  propose  going  to-morrow  or  next  day,  at  furtherest,  if  not 
wanted  here.  The  enemy  are  at  Flatbush,  their  numbers  not  known,  though  we  every  moment  expect  an  attack,  I 
shall  wait  your  answer  this  evening,  and  am  with  respect — Yours  &c 

"NEW  YORK  24th  August  1776.  JAMES  LIVINGSTON." 

When  Colonel  James  Livingston's  Regiment,  with  the  main  army,  was  stationed  on.,  the 
Hudson,  a  letter  from  Washington  to  Arnold,  dated  Peekskill,  3d  of  August,  1780,  attests  the 
great  attention  he  was  devoting  to  the  security  of  the  passes  of  that  river,  protecting  King's 
Ferry  and  strengthening  West  Point.  After  minute  details,  in  which  all  his  orders  abound,  he 
directs  "Colonel  James  Livingston's  Regiment  to  garrison  the  redoubts  at  Stony  and  Ver  Planck's 
Points."  This  fixes  that  officer's  presence  there. 

Arnold's  object  in  assuming  command  of  West  Point  (the  key  to  the  concerted  disruption  of 
the  Colonies),  the  value  of  which  was  appreciated  by  the  enemy,  and  which  he  intended  finally  to 
turn  over  to  them,  is  thus  given  by  Sparks  in  his  "  Washington's  Writings"  : 

"  Although  there  had  been  various  intimations  to  the  Commander-in-Chief  that  Arnold  wished  the  command 
at  West  Point,  yet  he  had  delayed  conferring  it,  probably  because  he  considered  the  services  of  so  efficient  an 
officer  much  more  important  in  the  main  army.  In  the  arrangements  of  the  army  therefore,  published  in  General 
Orders,  on  the  ist  of  August — (two  days  before) — '  the  command  of  the  left  wing  was  assigned  to  Arnold.'  When  it 
was  found  that  he  was  disappointed  and  dissatisfied  and  complained  '  that  his  wound  would  not  allow  him  to  act  in 
the  field,'  Washington  complied  with  his  request  to  be  stationed  at  West  Point." 

Arnold's  attractive  wife,  the  daughter  of  Chief- Justice  Shippen,  was  socially  cultivated  by 
British  officers,  and  had,  it  is  recorded,  Major  Andre  as  a  correspondent  and  commissionaire  in 
New  York.  When  the  General  Order,  and  her  husband  was  not  to  control  West  Point,  was 
announced  at  the  dinner  table  of  Colonel  Robert  Morris',  at  Springatesbury,  near  Philadelphia 
(although  it  was  for  a  position  as  honorable)  she  swooned.  After  tire  denouement  and  Arnold's 
escape,  she  repeatedly  apparently  fainted,  and  was  frantic  until  she  had  obtained  a  passport  from 
Washington  to  follow  her  husband  to  within  the  British  lines.  It  is  also  recorded  that  she  told 
an  English  lady  "  she  was  heartily  sick  of  the  theatrics  she  was  exhibiting." 

When  the  sloop-of-war  "  Vulture,"  protected  by  a  flag  of  truce,  on  the  i8th  of  September, 
1780,  anchored  off  Teller's  Point,  a  few  miles  below  King's  Ferry  (a  position  singularly  incon 
venient  both  to  land  and  cover  Major  Andre  during  his  meeting  with  Arnold  at  Smith's  house  at 
the  Clove),  where  they  were  consummating  their  treason,  the  frustration  of  which  has  been 
attributed  to  Colonel  Henry  Beekman  Livingston,  which  is  not  correct,  as  he  then  for  nearly 
eighteen  months  had  been  out  of  the  service.  Investigation  clearly  shows  that  the  credit  was  due 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  253 

of  one  of  La  Fayette's  Regiments,  was  assisted  up  the  side  of  the  steamer.  La  Fayette  received 
him  as  he  put  his  foot  on  the  deck  ;  the  old  men  fell  into  each  others  arms,  and  there  was  not  a 
dry  eye  in  the  crowd. 

"  At  Clermont  a  fete  to  the  tenantry,  a  ball  and  fireworks  were  in  preparation  to  celebrate 
his  arrival.  A  rainy  afternoon  interfered  with  the  out-door  amusements,  but  the  dance  was  a 
success.  Before  any  one  was  allowed  to  take  the  floor,  the  band  played,  and  La  Fayette  gave  his 
arm  to  Mrs.  Montgomery.  They  opened  the  ball  by  walking  twice  around  the  room.  The 
dancing  then  commenced. 

"The  supper  table  was  set  under  the  orange  trees  in  the  green-house  ;  my  seat  was  next  to 
George  Washington  La  Fayette.  He  was  a  grave,  middle-aged  man,  and  looked  more  like  a 
German  than  a  Frenchman. 

"In  the  evening  we  were  a  little  disturbed  by  a  delegation  from  Hudson,  requiring  that 
La  Fayette  should  be  given  up  to  them,  as  if  he  had  become  a  State  prisoner.  They  wanted 
their  share  of  the  guest  of  the  nation.  General  Lewis,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Committee  who 
had  him  under  their  protection,  was  steady  in  his  refusal,  and  secured  for  the  veteran  a  quiet 
sleep,  which  he  greatly  needed." 

His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

to  the  vigilance  and  prompt  and  independent  action  of  Colonel  James  Livingston.  Commanding 
at  Verplanck's  Point,  he  had  watched  passing  events  with  suspicion,  and  questioned  the  propriety 
and  motive  of  this  flag  of  truce  with  his  General's  headquarters .  With  a  seemingly  providential 
instinct  he  applied  directly  to  Major  John  Lamb  for  some  ammunition  for  the  only  gun — a  four- 
pounder — which  Arnold  had  forgotten  and  left  him.  Lamb's  answer  to  his  request  is  interesting, 
and  is  as  follows  : 

"WEST  POINT,  2oth  September,  1780. 

"  SIR:  I  have  sent  you  the  ammunition  you  requested,  but  at  the  same  time  I  wish  there  may  not  be  a  wanton 
waste  of  it,  as  we  have  very  little  to  spare. 

"  Firing  at  a  ship  with  a  four-pounder  is  in  my  opinion  a  waste  of  powder,  as  the  damage  she  will  sustain  is 
not  equal  to  the  expense.  Whenever  applications  are  made  for  ammunition  they  must  be  made  through  the  com 
manding  officer  of  the  artillery  at  the  post  where  it  is  wanted. 

"  I  am,  Sir,  yours,  &c.,  &c., 

"  Colonel  LIVINGSTON.  "  JOHN  LAMB  " 

A  strong  tide  and  the  distance  at  which  the  "  Vulture"  lay  prevented  Andre's  return  to  her 
on  the  2ist  after  the  plot  was  consummated,  and  on  the  next  day  Colonel  James  Livingston,  with 
remarkable  self-reliance,  verging  on  insubordination  to  his  adjacent  superiors,  and  indifferent  at 
Lamb's  economical  caution,  tested  the  capacity  of  his  little  gun,  and  at  the  first  shot,  so  skillfully 
as  to  strike  the  "Vulture"  between  wind  and  water,  causing  her  to  slip  her  anchor  and  drop 
down  to  Tarrytown.  The  reverberation  of  its  report  amongst  the  surrounding  Highlands 
sounded  an  era  in  American  History.  Deserted  by  its  effect,  Major  Andre  traveled  by  land  to 
his  unhappy  destiny,  while  the  traitor  Arnold  escaped  in  the  "Vulture"  as  a  fugitive  to  New 
York,  in  his  place. 

"  Washington,  returning  from  his  visit  to  Count  Rochambeau  at  Hartford,  reached  Arnold's 
headquarters  at  the  Robinson  House  on  the  25th,  and  being  informed  of  Arnold's  flight,  desirous 
of  detail  and  consultation,  and  doubtful  who  then  to  trust,  wrote  to  Colonel  Lamb  as  follows  : 

"  SIR  :  It  is  my  wish  to  see  Colonel  James  Livingston  to-night,  and  I  write  him  by  you  on  this  occasion.  In 
his  absence  you  will  take  command  of  the  posts  of  Stony  and  Ver  Planck's  points  till  further  orders. 

"  I  am  Sir  with  great  respect  and  esteem 
"  HEAD  QUARTERS,  Robinson's  House  in  the  "  Your  most  obedt.  servt. 

"  Highlands.  "  GO.  WASHINGTON." 

"  25th  September  1780." 

He  was  a  member  of  the  New  York  Legislature  from  1784  to  1791,  and  married  Elizabeth 
Simpson,  of  Montreal.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


254  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

SAMUEL    LOGAN 

Major  $th  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  in  1824. 

He  was  a  Corporal  in  the  8oth  Regiment  of  the  British  Army  in  the  French 
and  Indian  war,  1755-59,  receiving  as  a  bounty  a  tract  of  two  hundred  acres  in 
the  present  town  of  Charlotte,  Vermont. 

He  settled  at  New  Windsor,  N.  Y.,  prior  to  the  Revolution,  and  was  elected 
on  the  23d  of  September,  1775,  Captain  of  a  company  of  Minute  Men,  serving 
in  Colonel  Pawling's  Regiment  of  General  George  Clinton's  'Brigade.  He  was 
selected  on  the  3ist  of  March,  1777,  as  Major  of  that  regiment,  and  was  on 
duty  in  a  detachment  of  the  militia  of  Westchester,  Dutchess,  Ulster  and 
Orange,  defending  the  Highlands. 

In  Ulster  County,  on  the  i6th  of  May  of  that  year,  having  performed  his 
duty  satisfactorily,  he  appears  as  one  of  the  only  two  field  officers  in  the  five 
regiments  as  an  excellent  disciplinarian,  and  recommended  for  the  Standing 
Army,  and  which  appears  to  have  been  soon  complied  with,  and  he  was  com 
missioned  from  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  a  Major  in  Colonel  Du  Bois' 
Regiment.  In  October,  1777,  he  was  taken  prisoner  at  Fort  Montgomery, 
and  not  released  until  after  three  years'  captivity — on  the  2ist  of  December, 
1780 — when  he  returned  to  and  joined  his  regiment,  then  the  5th  New  York, 
and  served  with  it  until  deranged  by  the  Consolidation. 

His  occupation  was  that  of  a  hatter  at  New  Windsor.  He  married  Abigail 
Clark,  of  Cornwall,  N.  Y.,  by  whom  he  had  several  children.  His  name  appears 
on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 

JAMES  JARED  LOGAN,  his  great  grandson,  was  admitted  in  1878. 


LEBBEUS  LOOMIS 

Lieutenant    \st    Connecticut    Regiment. 

Born  at  Colchester,  Conn.,  in  1756.  Died  at  Cherry  Valley,  N.  Y.,  on  the 
loth  of  January,  1836. 

When  seventeen  years  of  age  he,  as  a  volunteer,  was  in  the  Battle  of  Bunker 
Hill,  and  entered  the  Continental  Army  soon  afterwards  as  an  Ensign  in  Colonel 
Swift's  Connecticut  Regiment.  Subsequently  he  was  appointed  Adjutant  of 
his  regiment,  with  the  rank  of  Lieutenant,  serving  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
Was  in  the  battles  of  Brandywine,  Germantown  and  Monmouth,  and  was 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  255 

actively  engaged  in  the  organization  of  the  Militia,  which  has  since  replaced 
the  Continental  Line.  He  was  later  in  life  appointed  Major  and  then  Colonel 
of  one  of  the  New  York  City  Regiments  of  Artillery,  and  died  with  the  esteem 
of  his  associates  and  the  respect  of  the  public. 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  late  Connecticut  State  Society,  but 
removing  to  New  York  City,  met  with  the  New  York  State  Society,  where  he 
became  a  prominent  member  of  its  Standing  Committee. 

In  1828  he  removed  to  Cherry  Valley,  Otsego  County,  where  he  left  surviv 
ing  him  one  son  and  three  daughters,  by  his  wife,  Eliza  Kellogg,  all  of  whom 
died  in  childhood.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


HENRY    EMANUEL    LUTTERLOH 

Colonel  and  Deputy  Quartermaster -General. 

He  had  served,  prior  to  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  as  a  Major  in  Germany. 
Appointed  Deputy  Quartermaster-General,  with  the  rank  of  Colonel,  in  the  Con 
tinental  Army,  by  a  special  order  signed  by  Washington,  3oth  of  June,  1777. 
He  served  until  rendered  supernumerary  by  a  reorganization  and  reduction  of 
that  Department,  when  he  was  honorably  discharged. 

By  General  Orders  at  Orangetown,  3oth  of  September,  1780,  he  was 
appointed  Commissary  of  Forage,  in  which  position  he  served  until  his  resig 
nation,  ist  of  May,  1783.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll  with  the 
rank  of  Colonel. 

THOMAS   MACHIN 

Captain  New  York  Artillery. 

Born  in  1744.     Died  3d  of  April,  1816. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  Henry  Knox's  Regiment  of  Conti 
nental  Artillery,  at  the  Siege  of  Boston,  on  the  ist  of  January,  1776.  On  the 
loth  of  June,  1776,  Washington,  from  headquarters  in  New  York,  directed 
Major-General  Artemus  Ward,  then  in  command  at  Boston,  to  send  Lieutenant 
Machin  immediately  to  him.  He  sent  him  to  Fort  Montgomery  on  the  2ist  of 
July,  1776,  writing  to  Colonel  James  Clinton,  then  in  command,  as  follows  : 

"  The  bearer,  Lieutenant  Machin,  I  have  sent  to  act  as  an  Engineer  in  the  posts  under  your 
command  and  at  such  other  places  as  may  be  thought  necessary.  He  is  an  ingenious  man' and 
has  given  great  satisfaction  as  an  Engineer  at  Boston,  from  which  he  has  just  returned." 


256  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Appointed  Captain- Lieutenant  of  the  20!  Regiment  Continental  Corps  of 
Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's — on  the  ist  of  January,  1777,  and  promoted  Captain 
on  the  2tst  of  August,  1780,  and  honorably  discharged  the  service  on  the  3d 
of  November,  1783. 

The  chevaux-de-frize  and  other  obstructions,  extending  from  the  flats, 
below  Murderer's  Creek  to  Pollopel's  Island,  in  the  Summer  of  1778,  were 
constructed  under  his  superintendence.  West  Point  was  then  considered  the 
strongest  military  post  in  America.  In  addition  to  the  batteries  upon  the 
heights,  a  very  heavy  chain  spanned  and  obstructed  the  passage  of  the  Hudson 
River.  It  was  wrought  of  ore  taken  from  the  Sterling  Mines  in  Orange 
County,  Machin  superintending  the  work. 

Governor  Clinton,  writing  to  him  on  the  subject  of  erecting  works  for  the 
defense  of  Kingston,  says  : 

"  I  do  not  conceive  it  necessary  to  enclose  the  town,  as  the  houses  are  stone,  and  will  form 
— if  the  windows  are  properly  secured — good  lines  of  defence." 

In  1784  he  built  a  grist,  saw,  and  subsequently  a  coinage  mill  at  Quassaick 
Creek,  the  outlet  of  Orange  Lake,  near  Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  and  gave  it  the  name 
of  New  Grange. 

In  1787  he  formed  a  partnership  with  a  company,  chartered  by  the  State  of 
Vermont,  for  coining  copper,  with  a  capital  of  ^300,  under  general  privileges 
then  allowed  by  Congress  and  the  States,  and  subsequently  united  with  another 
firm,  consisting  of  Reuben  Harman  and  Israel  Van  Voris,  a  goldsmith  of  New 
York  City,  for  the  limited  term  of  eight  years.  Only  a  thousand  pounds  of 
copper  appear  to  have  been  coined  at  Machines  Mills,  and  in  1790  they  were 
discontinued. 

He  married  Susan  Van  Nostrand,  and  died  in  his  seventy-second  year  at 
Charleston,  Schoharie  County,  N.  Y.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 

THOMAS  MACHIN,  his  only  son,  was  admitted  in  1858,  and  died  on  the 
1 8th  of  May,  1875,  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine. 


EBENEZER  MACOMBER 

j 

Captain  2d  Rhode  Island  Regiment. 

Died  on  the  5th  of  April,  1829. 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  Rhode  Island  Society,  but  was  trans 
ferred  to  the  New  York  upon  his  removal  to  that  State  in  1827. 

Appointed  Lieutenant  in  the  2d  Rhode  Island  Regiment — Colonel  Israel 
Angel— on  the  i2th  of  June,  1777.  Subsequently  promoted  to  be  Captain, 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  257 

when  it  was  commanded  by  Colonel  Jeremiah  Olney.     His  name  appears  on  the 
Half-Pay  Roll. 

EDWARD  MACOMBER,  his  second  son,  was  admitted  to  the  succession 
by  the  New  York  Society  in  1849,  being  a  resident  of  Brooklyn,  and  his  elder 
brother  declared  "  non  compos  mentis." 


PETER  MAGEE 

Lieutenant  \st  New  York  Regiment. 

In  a  letter  from  his  brother,  James  Magee,  dated  Fishkill,  2Qth  of  Novem 
ber,  1776,  he  speaks  of  him  as  a  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  army  stationed  at 
Fort  Constitution,  and  urging  that  he  be  retained  as  an  officer  under  the  new 
arrangement  of  the  New  York  Line. 

Commissioned  Ensign  in  the  3d  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Gansevoort's 
— on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776.  Promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  in  De  Witt's 
Company  on  the  ibth  of  May,  1779,  and  subsequently  transferred  to  the  ist 
New  York  Regiment,  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Van  Schaick's — and  served 
with  it  to  the  end  of  the  war.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


SAMUEL   MANSFIELD 

Captain  New  York  Artillery. 

Died  5th  of  February,  1810. 

Appointed  Captain  2d  Regiment,  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel 
Lamb's — ist  of  January,  1777.  Honorably  discharged  the  service  at  his  own 
request  on  the  8th  of  November,  1778. 

He  was  admitted  to  membership  by  the  New  York  State  Society  in  1804. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

JOHN    MARSH 

Ensign  ist  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  in  New  York  in  1798. 

He  was  appointed  Sergeant  of  Hicks'  Company,  ist  New  York  Regiment, 
on  the  1 5th  of  December,  1776,  Sergeant- Major  of  the  Colonel's  Company  on 


258  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

the  22d  of  January,  1780,  and  on  the  2pth  of  September  following  Ensign  of 
the  Sixth  Company  of  the  ist  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Schaick's — 
and  served  with  it  until  honorably  discharged  the  service  at  the  termination  of 
the  war.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


ELIHU    MARSHALL 

Captain  2(1  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  on  the  icth  of  April,  1806. 

In  a  certificate,  without  date,  among  the  State  historical  manuscripts  signed 
by  Colonel  Ritzema  and  the  other  field  officers  of  the  3d  New  York  Continental 
Regiment,  he  is  mentioned  as  "a  good  officer,  will  make  a  good  Adjutant ;" 
and  in  another,  signed  by  General  John  Morin  Scott,  which  is  also  without 
date,  mentions  him  as  being  the  Adjutant  of  it. 

Appointed  Lieutenant  in  the  2d  New  York  Regiment,  Continental  Infantry 
— Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's — on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776  Subsequently 
promoted  to  be  Captain,  and  deranged  under  the  Act  of  Congress  in  1780. 
Honorably  discharged,  after  serving  his  country  for  five  years.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll.* 


ALEXANDER    McDOUGALL 

Major-  General. 

Born  on  the  Island  of  Islay.  Scotland,  in  1731.  Died  in  New  York  on  the 
8th  of  June,  1786. 

His  father  brought  him  over,  in  1755,  to  New  York  City,  settled  on  a  farm 
on  its  outskirts,  where  he  commenced  life  as  a  printer  ;  then  a  captain  of  one 
of  the  coasting  vessels  of  that  day,  and  subsequently  became  commander  of  the 
privateer  "Tiger,"  in  1758. 

When  the  Assembly,  in  1769,  considered  the  obnoxious  bill  for  the  New 
York  City  troops  to  overawe  its  inhabitants,  he  issued  a'n  address,  entitled  "  A 
Son  of  Liberty  to  the  Betrayed  Inhabitants  of  the  Colony,"  for  which  he  was 
imprisoned,  and  when  indicted  for  libel,  was  defended  by  Governor  George 
Clinton.  After  his  release  he  became  an  active  Son  of  Liberty  in  1765.  In 
1774,  July  6th,  he  presided  at  the  meeting  which  selected  delegates  to  the  first 


*  The  Society  assisted  him   during  the  later  years  of  his  life,  and  at  his  decease  defrayed  the  expenses  of  his 
burial. 


THE    SOCIETY'    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  259 

Continental  Congress  from  New  York,  and  in  the  following  year  was  elected  to 
the  Provincial  Convention. 

He  entered  the  service  as  Colonel  in  1775,  in  command  of  the  first  four 
regiments  of  patriots. of  New  York  who  took  up  arms  in  opposition  to  the 
oppression  of  the  Colonists  by  the  Crown. 

Appointed  Colonel  of  the  ist  New  York  Continental  Infantry  on  the  3oth  of 
June,  1776,  under  the  Act  of  Congress  passed  on  the  24th  of  March  of  that 
year.  Promoted  to  be  Brigadier-General  on  the  Qth  of  August,  1776,  and 
Major-General  on  the  2oth  of  October,  1777. 

He  held  the  rear  and  superintended  the  debarkation  of  the  American  troops 
on  the  evening  of  the  2gth  of  August,  1776,  after  their  repulse  on  Long  Island. 
His  brigade,  composed  of  the  ist  and  3d  New  York  ;  7th  Connecticut,  Colonel 
Charles  Webb's ;  ist  Maryland,  Colonel  William  Smalhvood's ;  4th  Rhode 
Island,  Colonel  Christopher  Lippett's  ;  and  Captain  Alexander  Hamilton's 
Company  of  New  York  Artillery,  served  in  the  Battle  of  White  Plains  on 
the  28th  of  October,  1776,  taking  an  important  part  in  the  action  at  Chatter- 
ton's  Hill. 

In  Washington's  General  Order,  dated  at  Harlem  Heights,  on  the  i5th  of 
that  month,  it  was  assigned  to  General  Charles  Lee's  Division,  which  delayed 
so  long  to  follow  in  the  retreat  through  the  Jersies.  It  covered  the  passage  of 
the  troops  across  the  Hudson  River  at  Peekskill,  on  the  23d  of  March,  1777. 
It  also  served  at  the  Battle  of  Germantown,  and  subsequently  at  White  Marsh, 
and  then  went  into  Winter  quarters  at  Valley  Forge. 

On  the  i6th  of  March,  1778,  he  was  in  command  constructing  the  forts  in 
the  Highlands,  as  planned  and  located  by  THADDEUS  KOSCIUSZKO, 
Colonel  of  Engineers,  and  after  succeeding  General  Israel  Putnam,  was,  on  the 
22d  of  June,  1781,  in  command  at  West  Point  after  Arnold's  escape.  This 
position  he  held  until  a  question  having  arisen  between  him  and  a  senior  officer 
in  January,  1782,  he  was  tried  by  court-martial  for  using  disrespectful  language 
on  the  occasion  of  an  invasion  of  his  authority,  as  he  supposed.  By  its  direc 
tion  General  Washington,  with  the  approval  of  Congress,  censured  him  ;  not 
withstanding,  he  did  not  lose  their  respect  for  him. 

At  the  end  of  the  war  he  was  chosen  chairman  of  the  committee  from  New- 
burgh  which  carried  the  grievances  of  the  army  to  Congress  in  the  Winter  of 

1783- 

In  1784,  on  the  gth  of  June,  he  was  elected  the  first  President  of  the  Bank 
of  New  York,  and  served  until  the  gth  of  May,  1785,  when  he  resigned  the 
position.  He  was  a  Delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress  from  New  York  in 
September,  1780,  and  in  February,  1784,  under  the  Articles.  A  State  Senator 
from  1784  until  his  death.  The  first  President  of  the  New  York  State  Society 


26o  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

of  the  Cincinnati.  Having  married,  he  died,  leaving  an  only  daughter  surviv 
ing  him,  the  wife  of  Judge-Advocate  General  John  Laurance,  also  a  member  of 
the  Cincinnati  Society.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

JOHN  McDOUGALL  LAURANCE,  his  only  grandson,  was  the  first 
hereditary  member  admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society  in  1798.  He  died 
on  the  22d  of  May,  1835,  at  French  Creek,  Jefferson  Co.,  N.  Y. 


RANALD  STEPHEN    McDOUGALL 

Staff  rank  of  Major,  Aide-de-Camp. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  ist  Regiment  New  York  Continental  Infantry 
— Colonel  McDougall's — on  the  28th  of  June,  1775.  Served  in  the  Canada 
Campaign  as  Second  Lieutenant  of  Captain  Goforth's-  Company.  In  Captain 
Richard  Varick's  list,  dated  28th  of  March,  1776,  of  officers  not  provided  for, 
he  is  mentioned  as  "a  brave  officer,"  and  again  in  another  as  "a  prisoner." 

He  was  subsequently  Aide-dc-Camp  to  General  McDougall,  with  the  rank  of 
Major.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

CHARLES    MCKNIGHT 

Senior  Surgeon  of  the  Flying  Hospital. 

Born  at  Cranberry,  N.  J.,  on  the  loth  of  October,  1750.  Died  on  the  loth 
of  November,  "1791. 

He  came  from  a  family  who  crossed  from  Scotland  over  to  Ireland  early  in 
the  1 7th  Century.  His  great-grandfather  lost  an  arm  in  1790  at  the  Battle 
of  the  Boyne.  His  grandfather  became  a  Presbyterian  preacher  of  the  gospel 
in  the  Emerald  Isle,  but  emigrating  to  America  in  1740,  settled  in  New  Jersey. 
His  father  followed  "the  calling,"  and  from  his  sermons,  opposing  the  oppres 
sion  of  the  Crown,  made  enemies  of  the  Tories,  who  retaliated  by  burning,  in 
1777,  his  church  at  Middletown  Point.  They  then  arrested  and  threw  him  in 
prison,  and  from  their  unchristianlike  treatment  and  cruelties  he  died  in  Jan 
uary,  1778.  His  elder  brother,  Captain  Richard  McKnight,  who  underwent 
the  same  torture  in  one  of  the  British  prison-ships  at  the  Wallabout,  died  also 
for  the  cause. 

Appointed  Senior  Surgeon  of  the  Flying  Hospital  of  the  Middle  Depart 
ment  of  the  Continental  Army  on  the  nth  of  April,  1777.  At  one  time,  it  is 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  z6l 

claimed,  he  acted  as  the  Chief  Physician  and  Surgeon-General  in  command  of 
the  Huts  or  Hospital  at  the  Cantonments  on  the  Hudson  River,  near  New 
Windsor. 

It  is  recorded  of  him  : 

"  That  in  the  discharge  of  the  important  and  arduous  duties  of  his  station,  his  talents  and 
indefatigable  zeal  were  equally  conspicuous,  and  that  he  was  preeminently  faithful  in  their  per 
formance.  " 

At  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  chosen  Professor  of  Surgery  and  Anatomy 
in  Columbia  College  (also  a  trustee),  delivering  celebrated  lectures  to  a  numer 
ous  class  on  his  specialties,  with  such  ability  as  won  for  him  extended  approba 
tion.  His  life  was  one  of  constant  activity  as  a  practitioner  and  teacher,  until 
his  forty-first  year,  when,  from  a  protracted  illness,  the  result  of  an  injury 
received  in  the  war,  he  was  compelled  to  terminate  his  useful  career. 

President  Duer  said  of  him  : 

"  Doctor  McKnight,  though  very  eminent  as  a  physician,  was  particularly  distinguished  as  a 
practical  surgeon,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  without  a  rival  in  this  branch  of  his  profes 
sion.  Gifted  by  nature  with  talents  peculiarly  calculated  for  the  exercise  of  the  important  duties 
of  a  surgeon,  his  education  in  an  especial  manner  enabled  him  to  attain  the  highest  reputation  " 

He  married  Mary,  the  only  daughter  of  General  John  Morin  Scott,  by 
whom  he  had  one  son  and  four  daughters.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay 
Roll. 

JOHN  MORIN  SCOTT  McKNIGHT,  M.D.,  his  only  son,  was  admitted 
in  1806,  and  died  on  the  8th  of  May,  1848. 

CHARLES  SCOTT  McKNIGHT,  only  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted  in 
1853,  and  served  on  the  Standing  Committee  many  years. 


DANIEL  McLANE 

Lieutenant  $d  Artillery,  Massachusetts. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  3d  Regiment  Continental  Corps  of 
Artillery — Colonel  John  Crane — on  the  pth  of  November,  1776.  Wounded  at 
the  Battle  of  Rhode  Island  on  the  2pth  of  August,  1778,  but  was  again  on 
duty  at  Springfield,  Mass.,  in  January,  1779. 

He  was  at  one  time  the  Judge-Advocate  of  a  court  martial  held  in  Provi 
dence,  R.  I.,  on  the  7th  of  September,  1779. 

On  the  3oth  of  September,  1783,  he  was  honorably  discharged.  Reap- 
pointed  Lieutenant  of  the  United  States  Battalion  of  Artillery — Captain  John 


262  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Doughty 's — on  the  4th  of  March,   1791,  and  promoted  to  be  Captain  of  the 
same  on  the  4th  of  November,  1791. 

Honorably  discharged  the  service  at  his  own  request  on  the  2d  of  April, 
1793.  When  at  Charleston,  S.  C.,  he  associated  with  the  Society  in  that  State. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


DANIEL     MENEMA 

Surgeon  2d  New  York  Regiment. 

Appointed  Surgeon  s  Mate  of  the  3d  Regiment  New  York  Continental 
Infantry — Colonel  Rudolph  Ritzema— on  the  27th  of  April,  1776.  Promoted 
on  the  ist  of  August,  1778,  Surgeon  of  the  2d  New  York  Regiment — Colonel 
Van  Cortlandt's — and  mustered  to  January,  1782. 

He  was  a  resident  and  the  Sheriff  of  Queens  County,  L.  I.,  in  1792.  His 
name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

ANDREW    MOODIE 

Captain  New  York  Artillery. 

Died  on  the  i8th  of  September,  1787. 

He  was  a  resident  of  and  enlisted  from  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.  Appointed 
by  General  Montgomery,  on  the  6th  of  December,  1775,  Lieutenant  in  the  New 
York  Provincial  Company  of  Artillery — Captain  John  Lamb's. 

In  the  daring  assault  on  Quebec,  on  the  3tst  of  December,  1775,  while 
serving  as  Adjutant,  he  was  taken  prisoner  with  most  of  his  company.  Kept  in 
close  confinement  until  paroled  on  the  3d  of  August,  1776,  and  then  sent  in  a 
cartel  to  Elizabethtown,  N.  J.,  arriving  there  on  the  2oth  of  September,  1776, 
and  exchanged  on  the  i8th  of  April,  1777. 

It  appears  by  the  State  Records  of  1775, 

"That  the  treasurer  was  ordered  to  pay  ^5  monthly  to  the  wife  of  Andrew  Moodie,  an 
Adjutant,  who  went  to  Canada,  and  was  taken  prisoner  on  the  3ist  oPDecember. " 

Appointed  Captain  of  the  2d  Regiment  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery— 
Colonel  Lamb's— on  the  ist  of  January,  1777.  On  the  3oth  of  September,  1783, 
he  was  promoted  Major  (by  brevet),  and  continued  in  the  service  until  honor 
ably  discharged,  with  a  portion  of  his  regiment,  on  the  ist  of  January,  1784. 
On  the  1 7th  of  April  following  he  was  appointed  Commissary-General  of  New 
York.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  263 

JOSEPH    MORRELL* 

Ensign  \st  New  York  Regiment. 

He  entered  the  service  as  Sergeant  of  Davis'  Company  of  the  4th  New 
York  Regiment — Colonel^..  B.  Livingston's— on  the  loth  of  December,  1776, 
and  Sergeant-Major  on  the  ist  of  March,  1779.  Appointed  Ensign  in  the 
same  on  the  ist  of  June,  1779,  and  on  the  consolidation  of  the  New  York 
Line  was  transferred  to  the  ist  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Schaick's— 
and  served  in  Aorson's  Company  until  honorably  discharged. 

Was  a  member  of  the  New  York  Legislature  from  Orange  County  in  1810. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

WILLIAM  WALTON    MORRIS 

Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Born  in  1758.     Died  on  the  5th  of  April,  1832. 

He  was  the  second  son  of  Lewis  Morris  (the  Signer],  and  several  of  his 
family  opposed  the  Crown.  Lewis  was  an  Aide-de  Camp  to  General  Greene, 
Staats  to  General  \Nayne  and  Jacob  to  General  Charles  Lee,  while  the  youngest, 
Richard  Valentine,  subsequently  became  a  Commodore  in  the  United  States 
Navy.  He  derived  the  name  of  Walton  from  his  mother's  family,  of  the 
Walton  House  in  Pearl  Street,  New  York  City,  lately  pulled  down,  and  where 
British  officers  were  once  feted  on  account  of  their  victories  in  Canada  at  the 
time  of  the  French  War. 

On  the  3d  of  July,  1777,  the  General  Assembly  appointed  him  Quarter 
master  of  the  ist  Regiment  of  State  Volunteer  Infantry — Colonel  Peter  Enos — 
raised  for  sea  coast  and  frontier  defense,  and  in  the  Middle  Department  it  was 
detailed  under  General  Israel  Putnam  for  the  defense  of  the  Highlands  along 
the  Hudson. 

When  this  regiment  was  mustered  out  on  the  ist  of  January,  1778,  he  con 
tinued  in  service  under  the  reorganization  of  the  New  York  Line  with  the  same 
rank,  until  again  discharged  on  the  ist  of  March,  1779.  Reappointed  on  the 
2  ist  of  December,  1781,  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  2d  Regiment  Continental 
Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's — and  became  its  Quartermaster  on  the  fol 
lowing  ist  of  January,  1783,  and  was  once  more  mustered  out,  with  a  part  of 


*  He  subscribed  his  name  to  the  New  York   Roll  as  J.  Morrell,  and  subsequently  it  appears  again  subscribed 
as  Joseph  Morrell,  but  in  the  handwriting  of  the  Secretary. 


264  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

his  regiment,  on  the  3d  of  November  following,  upon  the  reduction  caused  by 
the  recent  treaty  of  peace. 

On  the   20th  of  October,  1786,  he  reentered  the  service  as  a  Lieutenants. 
the  3d   Regiment   of  the   United  States  Infantry,  commanded  by  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  David  Humphrey,  and   raised   for  special  service  in  the  West,  but  the 
emergency  passing,  he  was  again  honorably  discharged,  with  his  regiment,  on 
the  2ist  of  April,  1787,  so  terminating  his  military  career. 

In  1787  he  was,  with  Abraham  Hardenburgh,  one  of  the  Commissioners  to 
determine  the  boundary  line  between  New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  After  the 
war  was  over  he  sold  his  interest  in  Morrisania,  and  removed  to  Ballston  Spa, 
Saratoga  County,  devoting  himself  to  breeding  Merino  sheep,  then  just  intro 
duced  by  Chancellor  Livingston  as  promising  valuable  results. 

He  married  Sarah  Carpender,  by  whom  he  had  a  large  family  of  sons  and 
daughters.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

LEWIS  MORRIS,  his  eldest  son.  was  elected  to  membership  in  1855,  but 
died  without  leaving  issue  or  subscribing  his  name  to  the  Institution. 

WILLIAM  GOUVERNEUR  MORRIS  (Major  U.  S.  A.),  his  grandson, 
eldest  son  of  his  second  son,  General  William  Morris,  was  admitted  in  the 
succession  in  1870,  and  died  at  Sitka,  Alaska,  on  the  3ist  of  January,  1884, 
without  male  issue. 


PETER  NESTELL 

Captain- Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Died  in  1817. 

He  resided  in  and  enlisted  from  New  York  City  as  a  Matross  in  the  New 
York  Provincial  Artillery  Company — Captain  Lamb's — in  June,  1775. 

In  the  assault  on  Quebec,  on  the  3ist  of  December,  1775,  he  was  taken 
prisoner  with  many  others  of  his  company,  and  enlisted  in  the  British  service 
on  the  6th  of  January,  1776.  Soon  afterward,  escarping  to  Montreal,  he 
rejoined  the  remainder  of  his  company,  then  under  Captain-Lieutenant  Isaiah 
Wool,  receiving  a  severe  reprimand  from  Captain  Lamb. 

The  following  is  from  Leake's  Biography  of  John  Lamb  : 

"  The  faithful  fellow  was  only  practicing  a  ruse  in  order  to  escape  and  join  the  company  at 
Montreal,  which  he  did,  and  served  with  fidelity  and  zeal  until  he  was  discharged,  Nor  had 
Colonel  Lamb  any  cause  to  blush  for  the  officers  of  his  selection,  for  all  performed  good  service  to 
the  country." 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  265 

At  the  end  of  his  year's  enlistment  he  was  appointed  Second  Lieutenant  in 
Colonel  Lamb's  Regiment  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery,  dating  from  January, 
1777.  Promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  on  the  Qth  of  November,  1778,  in  Captain 
George  Fleming's  Company,  and  to  Captain-Lieutenant,  while  on  the  march  to 
Yorktown,  on  the  3d  of  September,  1781. 

Honorably  discharged  with  his  regiment.  He  is  recorded  attending  a 
meeting  of  the  Virginia  State  Society  on  the  i4th  of  December,  1808.  His 
names  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


JAMES  NICHOLSON 

Captain  United  States  Navy. 

Born  in  Chestertown,  Md.,  in  1737.  Died  in  New  York  City  on  the  26.  of 
September,  1804. 

He  appears  to  have  subscribed  his  name  to  the  roll  of  the  Pennsylvania 
State  Society,  and  in  1788  associated  with  and  signed  also  the  roll  in  New 
York.* 

Captain  Samuel  Nicholson,  an  original  member  of  the  Massachusetts  State 
Society,  was  his  brother,  and  another  brother,  John,  was  also  a  Captain  in  the 
Navy. 

After  the  capture  of  Havanna,  in  1762,  he  resided  in  New  York,  and  entered 
the  Royal  Navy.  Subsequently  in  1775  ne  commanded  a  Maryland  vessel, 
the  "  Defence,"  in  which,  in  the  following  year,  he  appears  to  have  been  on 
the  American  side,  and  successfully  recapturing  several  vessels  which  had  been 
taken  by  the  British. 

Appointed  in  June,  1776,  to  the  command  of  the  twenty-eight  gun  ship,  the 
"  Virginia,"  and  in  the  following  January  succeeded  Commodore  Ezekiel  Hop 
kins,  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  American  Navy.  His  vessel  being 
blockaded  in  the  Chesapeake,  he  and  his  crew  joined  the  land  forces  and  took 
part  in  the  Battle  of  Trenton.  When  subsequently  attempting  to  run  the 
blockade,  she  was  captured,  but  they  all  managed  to  escape,  and  Congress 
afterwards  acquitted  him  from  any  blame. 

Having  taken  command  of  the  frigate  "  Trumbull,"  carrying  thirty-eight 
guns,  he,  on  the  2d  of  June,  1780,  brought  her  into  action  with  the  British 
ship  "  Wyatt,"  where  he  lost  thirty  of  his  men,  and  off  the  coast  of  Delaware 
she  was  subsequently  captured  by  the  enemy's  ships,  the  "  Iris "  and  the 
"  General  Monk,"  and  dismantled. 

*  See  ante,  page  95. 


266  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE   CINCINNATI. 

After  the  war  he  made  New  York  City  his  residence,  and  in  1801  was 
appointed  a  delegate  to  the  State  Convention,  and  in  1804  United  States 
Commissioner  of  Loans. 

He  married  Frances  Witter,  by  whom  he  left  surviving  him  a  son  and  five 
daughters. 

CHARLES  NICHOLSON,  his  great-grandson,  was  admitted  to  the  succes 
sion  by  the  Pennsylvania  State  Society  in  1883. 


Captain  Sappers  and  Miners. 

Born  in  1742  in  Scotland.  Died  on  the  2oth  of  November,  1809,  at  New- 
burgh,  N.  Y. 

He  came  to  New  York  in  1770  from  the  west  coast  of  Scotland,  where  he 
married  Jane  Wallace,  a  descendant  of  the  Regent,  William  Wallace. 

In  the  State  archives  he  appears  to  have  applied  for  a  Captain's  commission 
on  the  i Qth  of  February,  1776,  stating  that  "he  could  raise  a  company  from 
among  his  acquaintances."  General  Washington,  appreciating  his  determined 
character,  appointed  him  Lieutenant  in  a  corps  of  engineers,  and  he  was 
stationed  with  it  on  duty  along  the  Hudson,  assisting  in  the  construction  of  the 
forts  on  the  Highlands  and  laying  the  chain  cable  across  the  river.  Promoted 
to  be  Captain  of  a  Corps  of  Sappers  and  Miners  on  the  25th  of  April,  1779. 

He  was  stationed  at  West  Point  when  Arnold  fled. 

After  the  war  he  settled  on  a  farm  about  two  miles  west  of  Newburgh, 
where  he  became  the  Justice  of  the  Peace,  arresting  and  fining  not  only  General 
James  Clinton  (his  neighbor),  and  Colonel  Morgan  Lewis  (afterwards  Governor 
of  New  York),  but  even  his  own  son,  for.  violating  the  Sabbath  by  driving  or 
traveling  through  the  town.  He  represented  New  York  City  in  the  State 
Legislature  in  1788,  when  Colonel  Varick  was  the  Speaker,  at  Poughkeepsie. 

In  the  graveyard  at  Newburgh  the  following  inscription,  by  the  Reverend 

John  M.  Mason,  D.D.,  marks  his  tomb  : 

^/ 

"  Under  this  stone,  reposes  in  hope  the  flesh  of  Daniel  Niven  Esq.  Strong  sense,  unaided 
by  early  cultivation,  but  united  with  tried  integrity,  recommend  him  to  respect  and  confidence — 
devoted  with  unostentatious  zeal  to  the  best  interests  of  society,  he  approved  himself  as  a  private 
Christian,  unassuming  and  exemplary — as  a  Soldier  in  the  Army,  alert  and  gallant — as  a  Civil 
Magistrate,  a  terror  to  evil  doers,  enforcing  wholesome  laws  without  fear,  favor,  or  affection — as 
an  officer  in  the  church  of  God,  disinterested  vigilant  public  spirited,  faithful,  and  having  passed 
through  an  active  and  varied  life,  honored  by  the  esteem  of  good  and  the  fears  of  bad  men,  he 
finished  his  course  in  the  consolations  of  that  gospel  which  he  had  loved." 

His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  267 

WILLIAM    NORTH 

Captain   \6th  Massachusetts  Regiment,  Aide-de-Camp. 

Born  at  Fort  Frederick,  Pemaquid,  Maine,  in  1755.  Died  in  New  York 
City  on  the  3d  of  January,  1836. 

He  was  the  son  of  Captain  John  North,  of  Thomaston,  Maine,  and  was 
prepared  by  early  education  and  associations  to  fill  the  positions  he -secured  in 
after  life. 

In  1777  he  was  commissioned  Captain  in  Colonel  Henry  Jackson's  Massa 
chusetts  Regiment.  In  1778  he  was  appointed  an  Aide  to  Baron  Steuben, 
with  the  rank  of  Major,  soon  became  a  favorite,  and  occupied  in  training  the 
troops  under  his  system  of  military  instruction.  Accompanying  Steuben  to 
Virginia,  he  was  at  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown.  Steuben  left 
him  the  bulk  of  the  property  which  he  divided  among  his  military  companions. 

When  the  war  was  over  he  was  appointed  Adjutant  and  Inspector-General 
of  the  Army,  with  the  rank  of  Brigadier-General.  He  served  for  several  terms 
in  the  New  York  Legislature,  and  once  as  the  Speaker  of  the  House.  He  was 
one  of  the  Board  of  Canal  Commissioners,  and  in  1798  chosen -one  of  New 
York's  Senators  in  Congress.  In  1812  he  was  appointed  Adjutant- General  of 
the  Army,  but  declined  to  act. 

By  his  marriage  with  Mary,  daughter  "of  the  Honorable  James  Duane,  he 
became  connected  and  identified  with  many  prominent  families  in  the  early 
history  of  New  York,  where  he  long  held  the  position  of  an  esteemed  and 
useful  citizen. 

He  signed  the  roll  of  the  Massachusetts  Society  with  his  regiment  at  New 
Windsor,  and  his  one  month's  pay  was  paid  by  the  Paymaster-General,  John 
Pierce,  to  their  fund.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roil. 

WILLIAM  AUGUSTUS  STEUBEN  NORTH,  his  only  surviving  son, 
was  admitted  in  1837,  and  died  in  1845. 

NATHANIEL  NORTON 

Captain  ^th  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  in  1743.     Died  on  the  7th  of  October,  1837. 

He  was  admitted  a  member  of  the  New  York  Society  in  1823. 

The  following  General  Order  was  published  on  the  gth  of  October*  1837  : 

"The  President  of  the  Society  with  deep  regret  announces  to  its  members  that  Captain 
Nathaniel  Norton,  one  of  their  respected  companions  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution  and  the  most 
aged  member  of  the  New  York  State  Society,  departed  this  life  in  the  ninety-fifth  year  of  his  age. 


268  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

"  Captain  Norton  entered  the  service  of  his  country  as  a  private  in  the  Provincial  Corps  in 
the  French  War  of  1756,  was  a  Corporal  in  the  forces  commanded  by  General  Bradstreet  in  the 
year  1760,  and  was  stationed  for  some  time  at  Oswego,  N.  Y.  On  the  2ist  of  November,  1776, 
he  was  appointed  and  commissioned  as  a  Lieu/enant  in  the  4th  New  York  (Continental)  Regiment 
—  Colonel  Henry  B.  Livingston — promoted  \.o-Captain  on  the  23d  of  April,  1778,  and  continued 
in  it  until  1781,  when  the  five  New  York  Regiments,  by  a  resolution  of  Congress,  were  con 
solidated  to  two,  and  although  he  was  appointed  in  them,  yet  such  was  the  estimate  of  his 
services  and  usefulness,  that  his  pay  and  appointments  were  continued  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

"  He  was  appointed  by  Governor  Clinton  a  Commissioner  to  procure  loans  of  money  from 
the  inhabitants  of  Long  Island  in  aid  of  the  war,  and  the  better  to  conceal  this  object  and  fulfill 
its  duties,  was  appointed  Captain  of  a  small  Government  vessel  called  the  '  Suffolk,'  then  cruising 
in  the  Sound  between  Connecticut  and  Long  Island. 

"  Captain  Norton  did  duty  with  the  'corps  de  reserve'  at  the  Battle  of  Monmouth,  on  the 
the  28th  of  June,  1778,  and  was  engaged  with  the  artillery  in  that  action.  He  afterwards 
accompanied  General  Sullivan  in  the  expedition  against  the  Six  Nations  of  Indians,  then  occupy 
ing  the  western  part  of  this  State.  Sickness  prevented  his  taking  part  with  his  regiment  in  the 
action  of  Bemis'  Heights  and  Stiilwatei,  which  led  to  the  capture  or  surrender  of  the  British 
Army,  commanded  by  General  Burgoyne. 

"After  the  close  of  the  War  of  Independence  he  retired  to  a  farm  on  Long  Island  until 
1790,  when  he  became  the  Pastor  of  a  Baptist  church  in  Connecticut,  and  subsequently  at  Herki- 
mer  in  this  State,  until  1805,  when  his  age  and  infirmities  rendered  it  expedient  for  him  to  retire 
and  pass  the  rest  of  his  life,  respected  by  all  who  knew  him,  in  New  York  City. 

"  The  members  of  the  Society  are  invited  to  attend  the  funeral  of  their  deceased  companion 
on  Tuesday  next,  the  zoth  inst. ,  precisely  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  from  No.  192  Varick 
Street,  two  doors  above  King  Street ;  and  they  are  requested  to  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning 
for  thirty  days  in  honor  of  the  deceased.  By  order  of 

Major-General  MORGAN  LEWIS,  President. 
"CHARLES  GRAHAM,  Secretary." 

His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


CHARLES  NUKERK 

Captain-Lieutenant  zd  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  in  1822. 

He  was  an  Associator  for  liberty  at  Kingston,  Ulster  County,  N.  Y.,  in  June, 
1775.  Appointed  in  August,  1776,  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  3d  New  York 
Regiment — Colonel  Rudolph  Ritzema.  In  a  report  of  General  John  Morin 
Scott  and  the  field  officers,  they  certify  to  his  being  "  a  good  officer  and  recom 
mend  him  for  promotion." 

On  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  he  was  promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  of  the 
Eighth  Company  of  the  2d  New  York  Regiment  Continental  Infantry—  Colonel 
Van  Cortlandt's. 

In  October,  1778,  he  was  chosen  Captain- Lieutenant,  and  Adjutant  in  Jan 
uary,  1780,  serving  as  such  until  deranged  by  the  act  of  Congress  consolidating 
the  New  York  Line  on  t-he  ist  of  January,  1781. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  269 

At  the  end  of  the  war  he  settled  in  Albany,  and  after  the  death  of  Pieter 
Schuyler,  Jr.,  the  eldest  grandson  of  the  first  Mayor  of  that  place,  married  his 
widow,  Gertrude  Lansing,*  but  died,  leaving  no  issue  surviving  him.  He 
adopted  an  only  nephew  called  after  him,  whom  he  made  his  heir.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

DANIEL    PARKER,    JR. 

Captain- Lieutenant   $d  Artillery,   Massachusetts. 

Born  at  Boston  in  1761.     Died  in  May,  1796,  at  Salem,  Mass. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  in  Gridley's  Regiment  of  Massachusetts  Con 
tinental  Artillery,  on  the  igth  of  May,  1775,  and  fought  in  it  at  the  Battle  of 
Bunker  Hill  with  his  brother,  Elias  (who  was  afterwards  commissioned  a 
Lieutenant  in  Colonel  Crane's  Artillery,  and  became  an  original  member  of  the 
Massachusetts  State  Society).  After  it  was  incorporated  under  the  command 
of  Colonel  Henry  Knox  he  continued  in  it  until  its  reorganization  for  the  war, 
on  the  ist  of  January,  1777,  as  the  3d  Regiment  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery 
— Colonel  John  Crane — when  he  was  promoted  Lieutenant  of  Captain  Sargent's 
Company,  and  stationed  on  Quaker  Hill.  Subsequently  he  was  appointed  the 
Captain- Lieutenant  of  it,  and  served  as  such  until  the  25th  of  October,  1778. 
He  resigned  in  1779,  after  four  years'  service,  and,  having  graduated  at 
Harvard  in  1773,  taught  a  Latin  grammar  school  in  Salem  until  he  died. 

His  widow  Catherine,  residing  at  Newark,  N.  J.,  received  aid  from  the  New 
York  Society's  fund  until  January,  1802. 

His  eldest  surviving  brother,  Edward  Parker,  made  an  application  to  be 
admitted  in  the  succession,  dated  from  Jamaica,  L.  I.,  on  the  28th  of  Septem 
ber,  1812,  but  which  does  not  appear  to  have  been  entertained. 

CHARLES     PARSONS 

Captain  \st  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  at  Northampton,  Mass,  i7th  of  September,  1742.  Died  at  Williams- 
town,  Mass.,  on  the  8th  of  March,  1814. 

He  entered  the  service  in  1776  as  an  Orderly  Sergeant  in  the  ist  New  York 
Regiment — Colonel  Van  Schaick's. 


*  Pieter  Schuyler,  Jr.,  her  first  husband,  having  made  his  will,  leaving  everything  to  her,  the  wealth  of  this 
branch  of  the  Schuyler  family  was  switched  off,  as  it  were,  from  the  main  track.  Mrs.  Gertrude  Lansing  Miller, 
a  daughter  of  the  nephew,  now  possesses  the  diamond  necklace  presented  by  Queen  Anne  in  1710  to  Colonel  Pieter 
Schuyler  for  his  wife,  when  attending  her  Court  with  the  Chiefs  of  the  Six  Nations. 


2JO 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


Appointed  Lieutenant  of  the  Fourth  Company  on  the  yth  of  October,  1776, 
and  chosen,  on  the  ist  of  September,  1778,  as  its  Captain- Lieutenant.  Pro 
moted  Captain  of  the  Sixth  Company  on  the  26th  of  March,  1779,  and  served 
as  such  until  mustered  out  of  service  in  1782. 

He  was  stationed  with  his  company  at  Ticonderoga,  and  up  the  Mohawk  at 
Fort  Schuyler,  during  the  Summer  of  1780;  participated  in  the  sufferings  of 
the  troops  at  Valley  Forge  ;  wounded  in  the  Battle  of  Monmouth,  and  finally 
present  at  the  Surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown. 

He  married  Lucy  Baldwin,  by  whom  he  had  six  sons  and  one  daughter 
(Mrs.  John  Anderson).  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

HENRY      PAWLING 

Captain  2d  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  in  August,  1825. 

He  was  an  Associator  in  Marbletown,  Ulster  County,  and  commissioned 
Second  Lieutenant  of  the  Fifth  Company  of  the  2d  Regiment,  New  York  Conti 
nental  Infantry — Colonel  James  Clinton— on  the  26th  of  February,  1776. 

Appointed  Lieutenant,  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  in  the  5th  New  York 
Regiment — Colonel  Du  Bois. 

Taken  prisoner,  at  the  capture  of  Fort  Montgomery,  on  the  6th  of  October, 
1777.  Promoted,  after  his  exchange,  Captain— the  regiment  being  then  com 
manded  by  Colonel  Van  Cortlandt— on  the  23d  of  June,  1778.,  and  remained  in 
its  service  until  honorably  discharged  in  1782. 

In  1798  he  represented  Montgomery  County  in  the  New  York  State  Legis 
lature.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 

SAMUEL  TREDWELL    PELL 

Captain  id  New  York  Regiment. 

Born   on  the    26th   of  July,  1755,  at  the   Manor  of  Pelham.     Died  there, 

> 
unmarried,  on  the  29th  of  December,  1786. 

It  is  claimed  that  the  first  proprietor  of  that  large  estate  purchased  from  the 
Indians,  known  as  the  Manor  of  Pelham,  was  a  "gentleman  of  the  bedchamber 
and  a  favorite  of  Charles  I.,"  and  foreseeing  the  coming  political  complications 
in  the  old  country,  invested  in  lands  in  the  New  World  as  early  as  1654. 
Sending  his  nephew,  John  Pell,  to  settle  thereon,  who,  losing  his  life  by  drown 
ing  in  Long  Island  Sound,  off  City  Island,  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Thomas 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  271 

Pell,  who  married  the  Indian  squaw  "  Anna."  Their  son  Philip  had  a  son 
Philip,  who  was  the  father  of  Captain  Samuel  T.  Pell,  and  the  patriot  Deputy 
Judge- Advocate  Philip  Pell,  Jr.* 

At  the  age  of  twenty  he  applied  for  a  commission  in  the  army,  and  on  the 
28th  of  June,  1775,  was  appointed  a  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  4th  Regiment, 
New  York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  James  Holmes.  His  commission  was 
handed  him  on  the  i3th  of  July  by  Gouverneur  Morris,  and  on  the  nth  of 
August  another  was  forwarded  to  him  with  rank  as  Lieutenant,  both  of  which 
are  now  preserved  among  the  State  papers. 

Appointed  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  Captain  in  the  2d  New  York 
Regiment — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's — he  served  with  it,  after  the  reduction  of 
the  New  York  Quota,  until  finally  honorably  discharged  the  service  in  1782. 

After  the  war  he  settled  on  his  portion  of  the  Manor  of  Pelham,  devoting 
himself  to  his  farm  and  the  raising  of  blooded  stock,  until  his  decease,  caused 
by  injuries  sustained  by  the  fall  of  his  horse.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- 
Pay  Roll. 

ROBERT     PEMBERTON 

Captain,  Spencer  s  Regiment,  New  Jersey. 

Died  in  1788. 

Appointed  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  Oliver  Spencer's  New  Jersey  Regiment  on 
the  i4th  of  June,  1777,  and  Adjutant  on  the  loth  of  October  following.  Pro 
moted  to  be  Captain  in  the  same  on  the  ist  of  January,  1778,  and  serving  until 
the  close  of  the  war. 

He  appears  to  have  paid  one  month's  pay  into  the  fund  of  the  New  Jersey 
Society.  On  the  5th  of  July,  1785,  he  was  elected  Secretary  of  the  New  York 
State  Society,  which  office  he  held  during  the  inauguration  of  the  first  honorary 
members,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1786,  and  until  his  decease. f  His  name  appears 
on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


NATHANIEL    PENDLETON 

Staff  rank  of  Captain,  Aide-de-Camp, 

Born  in  Virginia.     Died  in  New  York  on  the  2ist  of  October,  1821. 

He  was  an  original   member  of  the  Virginia   State  Society.     In    1796   he 


*  He  prosecuted  the  charges  for  insubordination  made  by  General  McDougall  against  CofanefHenry  Beekman 
Livingston,  in  regard  to  the  burning  of  Esopus  on  the  ist  of  June,  1777. 
t  See  ante,  page  89. 


2y2  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

moved  to  New  York  City,  meeting  with  the  Society  in  this  State  in  1798,  and 
becoming  an  active  member  of  its  Standing  Committee  in  the  following  year. 

Entering  the  army  in  1775  from  Virginia,  he  served  until  appointed  Lieu 
tenant  in  Colonel  Moses  Rawling's  Maryland  Regiment,  which,  after  the  Battle 
of  Long  Island,  retreated  to  Fort  Washington,  where  it  engaged  Sir  William 
Howe's  forces  on  the  i6th  of  November,  1776,  and,  with  a  three-gun  battery, 
kept  in  check  the  column  of  General  Knyphausen's  Hessians,  until  compelled 
to  fall  back,  when  he  was  taken  prisoner.  Exchanged  at  Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  on 
the  1 8th  of  October,  1780. 

Upon  his  release  he  was  appointed  Aide- de-Camp  on  the  staff  of  General 
Greene,  with  rank  of  Captain,  and  accompanied  him  in  the  Southern  Campaign. 

He  received  the  thanks  of  Congress  for  gallantry  at  Eutaw  Springs  on  the 
8th  of  September,  1781. 

He  married  Susan  Bard,  by  whom  he  had  four  sons  and  one  daughter 
(Mrs.  Archibald  Rogers). 

After  the  war  he  settled  in  New  York,  where  he  became  a  prominent  lawyer, 
a  judge,  and  subsequently,  in  1816-17,  represented  Dutchess  County — where 
his  country  seat  was — in  the  New  York  Legislature.  While  stationed  at 
Charleston  he  met  with  the  State  Society  of  South  Carolina.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

EDMUND  H.  PENDLETON,  his  eldest  son,  was  elected  a  member  by 
the  New  York  State  Society  in  1823,  but  never  signed  the  Institution.  He 
married  Fanny  Jones,  of  New  York,  dying  without  issue. 

GEORGE  HUNT  PENDLETON,  his  eldest  grandson,  and  son  of  the 
statesman  and  soldier  of  the  second  war  for  independence  (Colonel  Nathaniel 
Greene  Pendleton,  of  Ohio),  was  elected  to  membership  by  this  State  Society 
on  the  5th  of  July,  1886.  He  was  appointed,  by  President  Cleveland,  United 
States  Minister  to  Germany,  residing  at  the  Court  of  Berlin. 


WILLIAM    PETERS 

Ensign  zd  New  York  Regiment. 

Appointed,  on  the  2gth  of  June,  1781,  Ensign  of  the  Eighth  Company  of 
the  2d  New  York  Regiment,  Continental  Infantry— Colonel  Van  Cortlandt— 
and  served  until  finally  discharged,  with  his  regiment,  in  1782. 

His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  273 

RICHARD  PLATT 

Staff  rank   of  Major,  Aide-de-  Camp. 

Born  in  1754.     Died  on  the  3d  of  March,  1830. 

His  great-grandfather,  Epenetus  Platt,  settled  at  Huntington,  L.  I.,  in 
1672,  and  was  imprisoned  for  resistance  to  the  oppression  of  Sir  Edmund 
Andros  in  1681.  He  represented  Suffolk  County  in  the  Colonial  General 
Assembly  from  1723  to  1737.  Some  of  his  descendants  went  to  Dutchess 
County,  and  subsequently  to  their  patent  of  twenty  thousand  acres  of  land  on 
Lake  Champlain,  now  Plattsburgh,  N.  Y.  Jonas  Platt,  who  died  in  1775,  at 
the  age  of  forty-four,  left  his  son  Richard  to  act  for  himself  in  those  troubled 
times.  His  mother,  Temperance,  was  the  granddaughter  of  Richard  Smith, 
known  as  "Bull  Smith." 

At  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  was  settled  on  his  farm  at  Smithfield,  L.  I., 
and  when  the  British  aggressions  alarmed  the  Colonists  into  organizing  for 
mutual  protection  or  resistance,  he  signed  one  of  the  earlier  declarations  as  an 
Associator  for  Suffolk  County  on  the  8th  of  May,  1775.  On  the  28th  of  June 
following  he  was  commissioned  a  Second  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  McDougall's 
Regiment,  and  accompanied  the  army  which  in  that  year  invaded  Canada, 
under  the  command  of  General  Schuyler.  He  was  at  the  capture  of  St.  Johns, 
Montreal,  and  gallantly  fought  with  General  Montgomery  in  the  •  unfortunate 
attack  on  Quebec,  and,  acting  as  Adjutant-General,  was  entrusted  with  the 
preparations  for  storming  the  city. 

Promoted  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  Van  Schaick's  Regiment,*  and  on  the  2ist 
of  November,  1776,  Captain  of  the  Fifth  Company  of  the  2d  New  York  Regi 
ment — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's. 

General  McDougall  subsequently  appointed  him  one  of  his  Aides,  with  the 
rank  of  Major,  and  as  such  he  rendered  important  assistance  in  the  retreat  of 
the  troops  from  Long  Island  and  in  their  march  to  White  Plains. 

Appointed  Deputy  Quartermaster-General  of  the  Main  Army  by  General 
Orders,  dated  Totowa,  24th  of  October,  1780,  and  accompanied  the  expedition 
to  Virginia,  being  present  at  the  surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown  on 
the  2ist  of  October,  1781.  He  continued  in  the  army  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

President  Duer,  of  Columbia  College,  in  his  "  Reminiscences  of  an  Old 
New  Yorker,"  gives  the  following  account  of  the  celebration  of  the  adoption  of 
the  new  Constitution  of  the  State  : 

"  A  day  for  the  purpose  having  been  more  than  once  fixed  upon,  and  postponed,  in  the  hope 
that  the  Convention  of  the  State — then  in  session  at  Poughkeepsie — would  accede  to  the  Union, 


*  See  ante,  page  156. 


274  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  of  whom  Colonel  Richard  Platt  was  Chairman,  found  it  impos 
sible  any  longer  to  oppose  the  patriotic  ardor  of  their  constituents,  and  accordingly  appointed  the 
23d  of  July,  1788,  for  the  celebration.  The  ratification  of  the  new  Constitution  by  New  York, 
though  considered  eventually  certain,  was  not,  from  the  opposition  it  encountered  in  the  State 
Convention,  then  thought  to  be  immediate,  and  the  accession  to  it  by  that  body  within  three 
days  after  the  celebration  was  in  a  measure  ascribed  to  the  universal  enthusiasm  in  its  favor 
manifested  on  that  occasion." 

This  was  one  of  New  York's  most  brilliant  pageants,  and  in  it  the  original 
"  Cincinnati  "  were  everywhere  prominent.  Major  Platt  rode  ahead  as  the 
Grand  Marshal  of  the  day.  Colonel  Morgan  Lewis,  Major  Nicholas  Fish, 
Aquila  Giles,  James  Fairlie,  William  Popham  and  Abijah  Hammond  were  his 
Aides,  and  Colonel  Anthony  Walton  White,  in  his  effective  uniform  of  the  Con 
tinental  Cavalry,  on  a  white  charger,  attended  by  two  Oriental  grooms,  carrying 
the  arms  of  the  United  States.  Major  L'Enfant,  who  conceived  the  design  of 
the  National  Capitol  at  Washington,  planned  the  decorations  for  the  occasion. 

Major  Platt  was  elected  Treasurer  of  the  New  York  State  Society  in  1788, 
and  appointed  Commissary-General  "by  the  State  during  the  War  of  1812.  His 
name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


WILLIAM     POPHAM 

Staff  rank  of  Captain,  Aide-de-Camp. 

Born  on  the  i9th  of  September,  1752,  in  County  Cork,  Ireland.  Died  in 
New  York  in  September,  1847. 

At  nine  years  of  age  his  parents  brought  him  to  this  country,  and  having 
settled  at  Newark,  New  Jersey,  educated  him  for  the  ministry,  but  current 
events  soon  changed  this  intended  career  for  him. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution  he  entered  the  service  as  a  Lieu 
tenant  of  a  company  of  Minute  Men  in  a  New  York  regiment — before  the 
formal  organization  of  the  regiments  for  the  war — which  it  is  claimed  he  had 
raised. 

In  the  Battle  of  Long  Island  he  captured,  with  a  detachment  of  troops 

under  his  command,  eighteen  of  the   British,  including  a  Captain  Rugg,  and 

> 
brought  them  into  headquarters  in  New  York  City  with  the  retreat,  for  which 

he  was   complimented   by   "  His    Excellency,"    General  Washington,    at   the 
time. 

General  James  Clinton  appointed  him  on  his  Staff,  as  one  of  his  Aides  while 
stationed  in  the  Highlands  of  the  Hudson  in  1777,  and  afterwards,  in  1779,  he 
accompanied  him  on  Sullivan's  Expedition.  Subsequently  he  was  transferred 
to  the  Staff  of  Baron  Steuben,  with  the  rank  of  Captain. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  275 

He  continued  in  the  service  to  the  end  of  the  war,  having  participated  in 
the  action  at  White  Plains  and  the  Battle  of  Brandywine. 

He  married  Mary,  the  daughter  of  Judge  Richard  Morris,  and  his  wife's 
farm  at  Scarsdale,  Westchester  County,  N.  Y.,  became  his  residence  in  1787, 
where  he  lived  to  be  ninety-five  years  of  age,  respected  and  beloved  by  all 
who  knew  him. 

For  many  years  he  held  an  important  civil  office  connected  with  our  Courts 
of  Justice,  and  on  the  4th  of  July,  1844,*  was  elected  the  President  of  this 
Society,  which  position  he  held  until  his  decease.  At  a  triennial  meeting  in  the 
same  year,  held  in  Philadelphia,  he  was  chosen  President-General.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

WILLIAM  SHERBROOK  POPHAM,  his  eldest  surviving  son,  succeeded 
him  in  the  Society  in  1848.  Chosen  Secretary  in  1860,  and  Vice-President  in 
1862,  which  office  he  retained  until  his  decease,  on  the  i8th  of  June,  1885,  in  his 
ninety-third  year.f 

JOHN    PRAY 

Captain  1 2th  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

Born  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire.  Died  in  New  York  City  in  Septem 
ber,  1812. 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Society,  and  was  trans 
ferred,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1799,  to  the  New  York,  upon  the  payment  of  one 
month's  pay  (forty  dollars). 

He  first  joined  the  army  at  Lexington,  and  was  commissioned  Ensign  in 
Colonel  Phinney's  Regiment  on  the  ist  of  April,  1776.  Appointed,  on  the  i2th 
of  September,  1778,  a  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  Bigelow's  i5th  Massachusetts 
Regiment,  and  served  with  it  in  General  Sullivan's  Rhode  Island  Campaign. 
Commissioned  Captain,  on  the  5th  of  July,  1779,  in  the  i2th  Massachusetts 
Regiment—  Colonel  Ebenezer  Sprout. 

He  was  in  charge  of  the  Block  House  at  Dobb's  Ferry,  N.  Y.,  on  the  nth 
of  March,  1781,  as  the  Water  Guard.  Present  at  the  Battle  of  White  Plains, 
and  with  the  army  while  encamping  for  the  Winter  at  Valley  Forge. 

He  married  Jane  Mesier,  by  whom  he  had  one  son  and  two  daughters — 
Mrs.  John  D.  Stagg  and  Mrs.  Allen  C.  Lee.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- 
Pay  Roll.J 

*  See  ante,  page  116. 
t  See  ante,  page  146. 

$  His  grandson,  William  Pray  Lee,  was  admitted  in  1860,  under  the  resolution  of  1857,  as  a  life  member,  and 
died  without  male  issue  in  1872. 


276  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

THEODORE   STAGG,  his  grandson,  was  elected   in  1858,  but  failed  to 
sign  the  Roll. 


WILLIAM  PRICE 

Lieutenant  ^d  Artillery,  Massachusetts. 

Died  at  West  Point  in  July,  1790. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  Henry  Knox's  Regiment  of  Conti 
nental  Artillery,  on  the  ist  of  May,  1776,  and  continued  with  it  on  its  reorgani 
zation  for  the  war  as  the  3d  Regiment  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery—  Colonel 
John  Crane's — on  the  ist  of  January,  1777.  Promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  in  the 
same  on  the  i2th  of  September,  1778.  Retained  in  the  service  on  the  reduc 
tion  of  his  regiment,  in  Captain  Thomas  Vose's  Company,  on  the  i2th  of  June, 
1783,  pursuant  to  the  orders  of  his  Excellency,  General  Washington,  promul 
gated  at  Army  Headquarters,  Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  dated  2d  of  June,  1783. 

Appointed  Deputy-Commissary  of  Ordinance  and  Military  Stores  at  West 
Point  on  the  ist  of  January,  1784,  upon  the  discharge  of  the  remainder  of  his 
regiment,  and  continued  in  this  position  until  relieved  by  Captain  George 
Fleming,  on  the  22d  of  March,  1787. 

He  signed  the  Massachusetts  Roll,  with  his  regiment  at  the  Cantonments 
on  the  Hudson,  and  his  one  month's  pay  was  paid  over  to  that  fund  by  the 
Paymaster-General.  » 

Residing  in  this  State,  he  met  with  and  signed  the  roll  of  the  New  York 
Society.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


Surg eon's  Mate  zd  New  York  Regiment. 

Appointed  Surgeons  Mate  of  the  4th  Regiment,  New  York  Continental 
Infantry — Colonel  Henry  B.  Livingston's — and  transferred  to  the  2d  Regiment, 
New  York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's— on  the  ist  of  Janu 
ary,  1881.  Honorably  discharged  the  service  on  the  3d  of  November,  1783. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll.* 


*  On  the  Half-Pay  Roll  appears  another  Abner  Prior,  Major  of  Connecticut  Regiment. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  277 

THOMAS     RANDALL 

Captain  $d  Artillery,  Massaclmsetts. 

Died  in  New  York  in  January,  1811. 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Society,  but  on  the  4th  of 
July,  1803,  met  with  the  New  York  State  Society  and  subscribed  his  name  to 
its  Roll. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  entered  the  service,  on  the  24th  of  April, 
1775,  m  tne  artillery,  at  the  Siege  of  Boston,  where  he  resided.  Commissioned 
Lieutenant,  in  Knox's  Artillery,  on  the  ist  of  January,  1776,  and  promoted  to 
be  Captain- Lieutenant  of  it  in  the  same  year.  Resigned  on  the  ist  of  May, 
1779,  from  his  regiment,  with  the  rank  of  Captain,  it  being  then  the  3d  Artillery 
— Colonel  Crane's. 

He  was  in  the  Battle  of  Long  Island  on  the  27th  of  August,  1776.  Taken 
prisoner  on  the  22d  of  September,  1777,  at  Paoli,  while  endeavoring  to  bring 
off  his  guns,  when  Wayne  was  surprised  by  General  Gray.  Wounded  and  left 
for  dead  on  the  field  at  Germantovvn. 

After  the  war  he  became  Captain  of  a  New  York  merchant  ship,  and  the 
partner  of  Major  Samuel  Shaw,  of  Boston,  in  the  Canton  trade.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


JACOB     REED,    JR. 

Captain  New  York  Artillery. 

Born  in  New  York  City  on  the  23d  of  April,  1755.  I^ied  on  the  3 ist  of 
May,  1838,  unmarried. 

He  was  the  eldest  son  of  Jacob  Reed,  of  Switzerland,  and  Jane  Ellsworth, 
widow  of  John  Minthorne  and  great-granddaughter  of  Wolfert  Webber,  who 
owned  the  Collect  in  New  York  City  in  1649,  by  grant  from  Governor  Peter 
Stuyvesant. 

With  his  nephews,  Captain  John  and  Daniel  Waldron,  he  assisted  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Marinus  Willett  in  removing  the  royal  arms  from  the  New  York  City 
Hall. 

The  State  archives  mention  him  as  follows  : 

"  Jacob  Reed,  Jr.,  is  desirous  of  entering  the  service  of  his  country.  Would  be  particularly 
obliged  to  Colonel  Brasher  in  interesting  for  him,  as  he  thinks  himself  capable.  Would  wish  for 
a  Lieutenancy,  but  rather  than  fail  would  accept  a  Second.  6th  February,  1776." 


278  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Under  this  application  he  was  commissioned  a  Second  Lieutenant  in  Captain 
Bauman's  Artillery  Company,  on  the  i6th  of  April,  1776,  and  was  attached  to 
Colonel  Knox's  Artillery  Regiment. 

On  the  ist  of  February,  1777,  he  was  promoted  to  Captain- Lieutenant  in 
Walker's  Company  in  Colonel  Lamb's  2d  New  York  Regiment,  Continental 
Corps  of  Artillery,  and  promoted,  on  the  23d  of  March,  1781,  to  be  Captain  in 
the  same.  He  resigned  from  the  service  on  the  22d  of  March,  1782. 

He  visited  Europe  a  few  years  after  peace  was  declared,  and  after  his 
return  lived  in  New  York  City  in  retirement,  respected  and  beloved  by  all  who 
knew  him.  He  lies  buried  in  Trinity  Cemetery  in  New  York  City.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


JOHN    REED 

Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Born  on  the  pth  of  August,  1759.     Died  unmarried,  in  September,  1797. 

He  appears  to  have  been  an  Associator  in  Beekman's  Precinct,  Dutchess 
County,  in  July,  1775,  an<^  to  have  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Captain  Van  Zandt's 
Company  of  Colonel  Lasher's  Regiment,  on  the  5th  of  November,  1776.  His 
brother,  Captain  Jacob  Reed,  Jr.,  applied  for  a  vacant  Lieutenancy  in  his  own 
regiment  for  him,  by  a  communication  dated  Artillery  Park,  near  New  Windsor, 
on  the  1 7th  of  December,  1780. 

Appointed  Lieutenant  of  the  2d  Regiment,  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — 
Colonel  Lamb's— on  the  28th  of  June,  1781. 

Honorably  discharged  the  service  with  a  portion  of  his  regiment,  on  the  ist 
of  January,  1784  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


JOHN     R.   B.    RODGERS 

Surgeon  $d  Pennsylvania  Regiment. 

j 

Born  in  1758.     Died  on  the  .?9th  of  January,  1833. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  Society,  and  was  transferred  to  New 
York  in  1801. 

Appointed,  on  the  ist  of  October,  1779,  Surgeon  of  the  ist  Regiment,  Penn 
sylvania  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  James  Chambers— and  subsequently  to 
Colonel  Daniel  Broadhead's.  Transferred,  on  the  ist  of  January,  1783,  to  the 
3d  Regiment,  Pennsylvania  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Richard  Butler's — 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  279 

on  the  reduction  of  the  Pennsylvania  Line.  He  was  on  duty  both  as  a  Gar 
rison  Surgeon  and  in  the  General  Hospital. 

Honorably  discharged  the  service,  with  his  regiment,  on  the  3d  of  Novem 
ber,  1783. 

He  died  at  his  residence  in  New  York  City  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his 
age,  beloved  and  esteemed  in  the  army  for  his  talents  and  humanity,  and  after 
wards  as  an  active  and  useful  member  of  society.  His  name  appears  on  the 
Half-Pay  Roll. 

JOHN  KEARNEY  RODGERS,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  by  the  New 
York  State  Society  in  1833,  and  died  in  November,  1851. 

JOHN  KEARNEY  RODGERS,  his  grandson,  eldest  son  of  the  last,  was 
admitted  in  1852. 


JEDEDIAH    ROGERS 

Captain  2il  Dragoons,  Connecticut. 

Originally  he  was  a  member  of  the  Connecticut  Society  and  resided  at 
Norwalk,  but  in  1797  he  associated  with  the  New  York  State  Society. 

He  appears  to  have  been  appointed  Lieutenant  of  the  5th  Connecticut  Regi 
ment  on  the  1 2th  of  July,  1777 — Colonel  Philip  Bradley's — and  subsequently 
transferred  to  the  2d  Dragoons  (of  Connecticut) — Colonel  Elisha  Sheldon's — 
and  promoted  at  the  end  of  the  war  to  be  Captain,  under  the  act  of  Congress. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


WILHELMUS    RYCKMAN 

Lieutenant  \st  New  York  Regiment. 

Appointed  Ensign  of  Captain  Benjamin  Hicks  Fifth  Company  in  the  ist 
New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Schaick's — on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776, 
and  also  served  with  that  rank  in  Captain  Nicholas  Van  Rensselaer's  Company 
in  1780.  Promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  of  Captain  Ten  Broeck's  Company  on  the 
5th  of  April,  1781,  and  served  until  honorably  discharged  the  service  in  1782. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


280  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

JOHN  SANTFORD 

Captain,  Spencer's  (Additional}  Regiment,  New  Jersey. 

Died  in  1808. 

He  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  Society  in  1787. 

On  the  ist  of  August,  1775,  he  headed  the  list  of  Associates  for  Inde 
pendence  of  Southampton,  Suffolk  County,  and  on  the  i3th  of  the  next  month 
was  appointed  Captain  of  the  Ninth  Company  of  the  2d  Battalion  of  the  Suffolk 
County  Minute  Men,  under  Colonel  David  Mulford,  and  was  chosen,  on  the 
6th  of  June  following,  Adjutant  of  Colonel  William  Malcom's  Regiment,  in 
Brigadier-General  John  Morin  Scott's  Brigade.  Upon  the  recommendation  of 
his  Colonel,  on  the  5th  of  November,  he  applied  for  a  commission  in  the  Con 
tinental  Line,  and  was  commissioned  a  Captain  in  Colonel  Oliver  Spencer's 
(additional)  Continental  Regiment,  with  which  he  served  until  honorably  dis 
charged. 

He  married  Susan  Weller,  and  died,  leaving  but  one  child,  Elizabeth,  who 
became  the  wife  of  William  A.  Davis,  of  New  York  City,  who  was  a  Lieutenant 
in  the  War  of  1812.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 

DIRCK     SCHUYLER 

Ensign  2d  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  on  the  29th  of  November,  1761,  at  Albany.     Died  unmarried. 

He  was  the  third  son  of  Sheriff  Harmanus  Schuyler,  and  a  grandson  of 
Nicholas  Schuyler,  who  resided  up  the  Mohawk  Valley.  His  elder  brother 
Nicholas  was  the  Surgeon  of  Colonel  Moses  Hazen's  2d  Canadian  Regiment, 
and  signed  with  it,  the  Institution  written  on  parchment,  which  is  now  in 
the  possession  of  the  General  Society. 

Appointed,  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  Ensign  of  the  Seventh  Company 
of  the  2d  New  York  Regiment,  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's 
— upon  the  establishment  of  the  New  York  quota,  and  served  until  honorably 

discharged.     His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

> 

PHILIP    SCHUYLER 

Major-General,  Commanding  the  Department  of  the  North. 

Born  at  Albany  on  the  22d  of  November,  1733.  Died  there  on  the  i8th  of 
November,  1804. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  281 

"  Among  the  patriots  of  the  American  Revolution  who  asserted  the  rights 
of  their  country  in  council,  and  equally  vindicated  its  cause  in  the  field,  the 
name  of  Philip  Schuyler  stands  preeminent.  In  acuteness  of  intellect,  pro 
found  thought,  indefatigable  activity,  exhaustless  energy,  pure  patriotism,  and  • 
persevering  and  intrepid  public  efforts,  he  had  no  superior  ;  and  it  is  to  be 
regretted  that  the  limits  assigned  to  each  portion  of  biography  in  the  present 
work,  will  permit  only  a  rapid  sketch  of  his  distinguished  services." 

These  are  Chancellor  Kent's  opening  words  in  the  sketch  of  Philip  Schuyler  he  so  care 
fully  prepared,  with  the  most  abundant  material,  for  the  "  National  Portrait  Gallery  of  Distin 
guished  Americans,"  and  which  is  condensed  and  introduced  here  as  most  suitably  adapted  to 
impartially  portray  the  character  and  merits  of  one  so  largely  identified  with  the  creation  and 
early  history  of  the  United  States. 

The  Saratoga  Estate,  of  which  Burgoyne's  army  in  1777  made  .such  sad 
havoc,  the  General  inherited  from  his  grandfather,  Captain  Johannes  Schuyler,  a 
son  of  Philip  Pieterse  Van  Schuyler,  who  in  1650,  at  twenty  years  of  age,  came 
to  America  from  Amsterdam,  and  married  Margaretta,  the  daughter  of  Brant 
Arentse  Van  Slechtenhorst,  the  Director  General  of  the  Manor  of  Rensselaer- 
wyck. 

Deprived  of  his  father  while  young,  he  was  indebted  to  his  mother,  Cornelia 
Van  Cortlandt,  a  lady  of  strong  and  cultivated  mind,  for  his  early  education, 
and  those  habits  of  business  and  that  unshaken  probity  which  never  forsook 
him.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  was  a  martyr  to  an  hereditary  gout,  which, 
although  confining  him,  while  at  school  at  New  Rochelle,  to  his  room  for 
nearly  a  year,  he  was  still  able  to  prosecute  his  studies  and  acquire  the  French 
language.  His  favorite  studies  were  mathematics  and  the  other  exact  sciences, 
which  enabled  him  in  after  life  to  display  unusual  skill  as  a  civil  and  military 
engineer. 

He  entered  the  army  when  the  French  war  broke  out  in  1755,  an(^  com- 
manded  a  company  in  the  New  York  levies,  which  attended  Sir  William 
Johnson  to  Fort  Edward  and  Lake  George. 

In  1758,  his  talents  and  activity  attracted  the  attention  of  Lord  Viscount 
Howe,  who,  commanding  at  Albany  the  First  Division  of  the  British  Army 
(of  four  thousand  men),  then  preparing  for  an  expedition  to  Canada,  had  the 
discernment  to  select  young  Schuyler  for  the  Commissary  Department.  When 
it  was  suggested  to  him  that  he  was  confiding  in  too  young  a  man  for  so 
important  a  service,  he  declared  that  "Ac  relied  on  the  practical  knowledge 
and  activity  of  Schuyler,  and  was  convinced  that  he  would  be  enabled  to  surmount 
all  obstacles." 

The  army,  under  the  command  of  General  Abercrombie,  arrived  at  the 
north  end  of  Lake  George  early  in  July,  and  when  Lord  Howe  fell,  in  a  conflict 


282  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

with  the  French  advanced  guard,  Schuyler  was  directed  to  cause  the  body  of 
that  lamented  young  nobleman  to  be  conveyed  to  Albany  and  buried  there, 
with  appropriate  honors. 

He  was  one  of  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  in 
1764  to  manage  the  controversy  on  the  part  of  New  York,  respecting  the  New 
Hampshire  Grants.  In  1768  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  General  Assem 
bly  of  Albany,  and  until  the  Colonial  Legislature,  in  April,  1775,  terminated  its 
existence  forever. 

******* 

The  great  scenes  of  the  Revolution  were  now  unfolding,  and  the  eyes  of  his 
fellow-citizens  were  constantly  turned  to  him,  as  one  in  whom  their  highest 
hopes  were  placed.  He  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress 
which  assembled  in  May,  1775,  and  had  scarcely  taken  his  seat  in  that  assembly 
when  he  was  appointed,  on  the  ipth  of  June,  one  of  the  three  Major-Generals 
of  the  Continental  Army. 

On  the  25th  of  June  he  was  charged  by  Washington  with  the  command  of 
the  army  in  the  Province  of  New  York,  and  in  his  fast  general  orders  enjoined 
the  troops,  that — 

"In  contending  for  liberty,  they  abhor  licentiousness  ;  in  resisting  the  misrule  of  tyrants, 
they  will  support  government  honestly  administered." 

He  was  directed  by  Congress,  on  the  ist  of  July,  1775,  to  repair  the  forts  at 
Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point,  and  make  preparations  to  secure  the  command 
of  the  lake,  and,  if  practicable  and  expedient,  to  take  possession  of  St.  Johns, 
Montreal  and  Quebec. 

In  August,  with  four  regiments  under  the  command  of  Brigadier-General 
Richard  Montgomery,  he  moved  down  the  lake  from  Ticonderoga.  When 
he  was  taken  down  with  a  fever,  and  carried  in  a  bateau  to  the  Isle  Au  Noix, 
where  he  established  his  headquarters  on  the  8th  of  September,  but  was  obliged, 
after  ten  days,  to  return  and  leave  the  expedition  in  the  command  of  Mont 
gomery. 

******* 

Supplying  the  Canadian  army  with  recruits,  provisions,  clothing,  arms  and 
money  was  beyond  his  power.  He  applied  for  leave  to  retire.  His  application 
was  not  listened  to,  but  on  the  3oth  of  November  Congress  resolved — 

"  That  his  conduct,  attention  and  perseverance  merited  the  thanks  of  the  united  Colonies. 
That  he  should  not  insist  on  a  measure  which  would  deprive  America  of  his  zeal  and  abilities,  and 
rob  him  of  the  honor  of  completing  the  glorious  work  which  he  had '  so  happily  and  successfully 
begun." 

Washington,  who  maintained  a  constant  correspondence  with  him,  expressed 
the  same  regret  in  his  letters  of  the  5th  and  24th  of  December,  1775,  desiring 
both  him  and  Montgomery 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  283 

"  To  lay  aside  all  such  thoughts  of  retirement,  alike  injurious  to  themselves  and  excessively 
so  to  the  country.  They  had  not  a  difficulty  to  contend  with  that  he  had  not  in  an  eminent 
degree  experienced." 

General  Schuyler  determined  to  continue  in  the  service,  and  especially,  as 
he  said— 

' '  After  the  fall  of  his  friend  Montgomery,  who  had  given  him  so  many  proofs  of  the  good 
ness  of  his  heart,  and  who,  as  he  greatly  fell  in  his  country's  cause,  was  more  to  be  envied  than 
lamented." 

The  distressed  condition  of  the  Northern  Army  in  the  Spring  of  1776  was 
unparalleled  in  the  history  of  the  Revolution. 

He  was  required  to  cause  the  St.  Lawrence,  above  and  below  Quebec,  to 
be  explored;  to  fill  up  blank  commissions  for  the  Canada  regiments,  in  his 
discretion  ;  to  establish  an  accountability  for  the  waste  of  the  public  supplies, 
and  to  put  Ticonderoga  in  a  defensible  condition.  After  the  death  of  Mont 
gomery  the  command  devolved  on  Brigadier-General  David  Wooster.  The 
most  alarming,  and  next  to  the  want  of  provisions  the  most  distressing  defi 
ciency,  was  in  muskets,  ammunition  and  cannon.  The  call  was  so  incessant 
for  specie  that  General  Schuyler  was  obliged  to  pay  out,  on  his  own  personal 
security,  ,£2,100  in  gold  and  silver  for  the  service.  Nothing  shows  more 
strikingly  the  want  they  endured  in  the  army  than  the  fact  that  even  Wash 
ington,  in  his  camp  at  Cambridge,  applied  to  Schuyler  for  assistance  : 

"  Your  letters  and  mine  seem  echoes  to  each  other,  enumerating  our  mutual  difficulties." 

Great  apprehension  was  entertained  for  the  disaffected  inhabitants  up  the 
Mohawk,  under  the  influence  of  Sir  John  Johnson,  and  Congress  directed  him 
"  To  cause  the  Tories  in  that  quarter  to  be  disarmed,  and  their  leaders  secured." 

He  accordingly  marched,  in  the  month  of  January,  and  executed  the  service 
with  such  discretion  as  to  receive  the  special  approbation  of  Congress. 

On  the  1 7th  of  February,  1776,  Major-General  Charles  Lee  was  appointed 
to  the  command  of  the  Northern  Army,  and  Schuyler  was  to  take  his  place  at 
New  York.  This  alteration  was  made  (as  the  President  of  Congress  assured 
him)  from  the  conviction  that  his  health  was  not  equal  to  a  Winter's  campaign 
in  the  severe  climate  of  Canada.  But  the  wants  of  the  Northern  Department 
were  so  urgent,  that  he  was  obliged  to  continue  his  headquarters  at  Albany,  and 
which  was  so  established  by  resolution  of  Congress,  on  the  6th  of  March,  1776. 
******* 

General  Lee  being  sent  to  the  South,  Major-General  John  Thomas  was,  on 
the  6th  of  March,  appointed  to  the  command  in  Canada,  with  a  reliance,  as 
Congress  declared — 

"  On  the  efforts  of  General  Schuyler  for  perfecting  the  work  so  conspicuously  begun  and  so 
well  directed,  under  his  orders,  the  last  campaign." 


284  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Between  the  i8th  of  April  and  the  nth  of  July,  General  Schuyler  was  at 
Fort  George,  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point,  active  in  directing  and  stimulat 
ing  efforts  to  relieve  them. 

On  the  2d  of  June,  after  the  death*  of  General  Thomas,  Brigadier-General 
John  Sullivan  succeeded  to.  the  command,  when  the  distress  and  disorganiza 
tion  of  the  army  had  arrived  at  the  utmost  height.  All  hopes  of  Canada  were 
gone,  and  no  alternative  was  left  but  to  make  the  safest  and  most  expeditious 
retreat.  General  Sullivan  left  with  only  two  thousand  five  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  men,  and  on  the  ist  of  July  reached  Crown  Point,  where  he  met  General 
Horatio  Gates,  who,  though  a  junior  officer,  was  appointed  to  the  command, 
and  Sullivan  retired  from  the  Department  in  disgust. 

The  expedition  to  Canada  having  thus  terminated,  the  next  object  of 
Schuyler's  attention  was  to  secure  the  forts  on  the  lakes.  On  the  i4th  of  June 
he  had  been  required  by  Congress 

"  To  hold  a  treaty  with  the  Six  Nations  of  Indians  ;  to  fortify  Fort  Stanwix  ;  to  open  a 
military  road  from  Fort  Edward  ;  to  clear  Wood  Creek  ;  to  establish  a  canal  lock  at  Skeens- 
borough  ;  to  equip  a  flotilia  on  Lake  Champlain,  and  to  fortify  Crown  Point  or  Mount  Inde 
pendence,  at  his  discretion.'' 

Crown  Point  was  abandoned  by  the  unanimous  advice'  of  a  council  of  his 
officers  as  not  tenable  with  their  present  force.  The  act  was  at  first  inconsid 
erately  censured,  but  his  reasons  for  the  measure  satisfied  the  mind  of  Wash 
ington.  A  flotilla  of  sixteen  vessels  was  equipped  for  service  on  the  lake  by 
the  latter  end  of  August,  and  he  assigned  the  command  of  it  to  General 
Benedict  Arnold,  which  was,  on  the  r6th  of  October,  by  a  much  superior  and 
better  manned  English  squadron,  after  a  brave  and  unavailing  resistance, 
totally  destroyed.  This  put  an  end  to  the  campaign,  and  the  garrison  at 
Ticonderoga,  consisting  of  nine  thousand  men,  was  left  by  General  Schuyler  in 
the  command  of  Gates. 

In  August  he  made  the  treaty,  on  the  Upper  Mohawk,  with  the  Six  Indian 
Nations,  which  was  of  the  utmost  importance — the  maintenance  of  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  savages.  The  Indians  were  induced  to  promise  neutrality,  and 
Congress  afterwards  gave  their  approbation  to  the  transaction. 

On  the  1 4th  of  September,  1776,  he  tendered  once  more  to  Congress  his 
commission,  when  they 

Resolved  that  they  could  not  consent  to  accept  his  resignation  in  the  then  situation  of 
affairs,  and  they  assured  him  that  they  bore  their  willing  testimony  to  his  services,  and  that  no 
aspersions  on  his  character  had  any  influence  on  their  minds." 

He  submitted  to  Congress  a  plan  of  operations  for  the  ensuing  year,  both 
at  the  North  and  on  the  Hudson,  and  informed  General  Washington,  on  the 

*  At  Chambli,  301)1  of  May,  1776,  of  small-pox. 


MAJ     GEN.    ARTHUR    ST   CLAIR. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  285 

3oth  of  January,  1777,  that  the   ensuing  campaign   would   require  at   Ticon- 
deroga  ten  thousand  men,  besides  two  thousand  men  for  the  several  points  of 

communication,  and  Fort  Schuyler  on  the  Mohawk. 

******* 

He  now  took  his  seat  in  Congress  as  a  delegate  from  New  York,  and  at  his 
request  a  committee  of  inquiry  was  instituted  to  examine  into  his  military 
conduct.  The  satisfaction  afforded  was  prompt  and  complete,  and  by  the 
resolution  of  Congress  of  the  22d  of  May  he  was  directed 

"  To  resume  the  command  of  the  Northern  Department  of  New  York,  consisting  of  Albany, 
Ticonderoga,  Fort  Stanwix,  and  their  dependencies." 

During  the  interval  of  the  two  months  that  he  was  in  Philadelphia,  he  was 
in  active  command  on  the  Delaware,  directing  fortifications  and  forwarding 
troops  and  provisions  to  the  Commander-in-Chief. 

But  the  storm  that  was  gathering  on  the   frontiers  of  his  native  State  soon 

engrossed  all  his  attention,  and  he  resumed  his  command  with  ardor  and  vigor. 
******* 

General  Schuyler  left  St.  Clair  in  command  at  Ticonderoga,  directed  him 
to  fortify  Mount  Independence,  and  informed  Congress,  on  the  i4th  of  June — 

"  That  considering  the  extensiveness  of  the  works  of  Ticonderoga,  the  smallness  of  the 
garrison  was  alarming  and  incompetent  to  maintain  it,  and  that  he  found  the  Department  in  the 
greatest  confusion." 

Application  was  made  to  the  Eastern  States  to  hasten  on  their  troops,  as 
the  garrison  at  Ticonderoga  did  not  then  exceed  two  thousand  two  hundred 
men,  sick  included. 

On  the  28th  of  June  he  communicated  to  Washington,  to  the  Governor  of 
Connecticut,  to  the  President  of  Mass;ichu  setts,  to  the  Committee  of  Berkshire 
and  to  the  Committee  of  Safety  of  New  York,  his  apprehensions  for  the  safety 
of  the  garrison  of  Ticonderoga,  from  the  inadequacy  of  the  means  of  defence.  On 
the  28th  and  3oth  of  June  he  encouraged  St.  Clair — 

"  That  he  should  move  up  with  the  Continental  troops  and  militia  as  soon  as  he  could 
possibly  set  them  in  motion,  and  hoped  to  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  him  in  possession  of  his 
post." 

So  again  on  the  5th  of  July  he  assured  him — 

"  The  troops  from  Peekskill  and  the  militia  were  in  motion,  and  he  hoped  to  see  him  in  a 
day  or  two." 

On  the  7th  he  informed  Washington,  by  letter,  that  he  was  up  as  far  as 
Saratoga,  with  about  seven  hundred  Continental  troops  and  about  one  thousand 
four  hundred  militia.  There  he  met  the  news  that  St.  Clair  had  abandoned 
Ticonderoga  and  Mount  Independence  on  the  6th,  with  the  loss  of  all  his 
military  equipments,  upon  the  advice  of  a  council  of  officers,  founded  on  the 


286  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

extreme  weakness  of  the  garrison,  the  extensiveness  of  the  works,   and  an 
insufficiency  of   provisions.      General  Schuyler   had    given    no    order    for    its 
evacuation  ;  it  was  as  much  a  surprise  to  him  as  to  the  country,  for  he  expected 
in  a  few  days  to  have  joined  St.  Clair  with  a  very  considerable  body  of  troops. 
He  says,  in  his  letter  of  the  uth  of  July  to  Chief- Justice  John  Jay— 

"  That  if  Ticonderoga  was  not  sufficiently  fortified  and  supplied  with  provisions,  it  was  not 
his  fault ;  if  there  was  a  want  of  men,  he  was  not  to  blame." 

Every  quarter  of  his  Department  was  replete  with  difficulty  and  danger  ; 
the  Mohawk  Valley  was  menaced  by  an  army  of  one  thousand  six  hundred 
regulars  and  Indians,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Barry  St.  Leger.  He  addressed 
the  civil  and  military  authorities  in  every  direction  with  the  most  forcible 
exhortations  : 

"  Every  militia  man  ought  to  turn  out  without  delay,  in  a  crisis  the  most  alarming  since  the 
contest  began." 

He  directed  that  the  inhabitants  retire  before  the  enemy,  and  every  article 
brought  off  or  destroyed  that  was  calculated  to  assist  them  ;  that  the  roads, 
causeways  and  Wood  Creek  be  rendered  impassible.  He  issued  a  proclama 
tion  to  encourage  the  country  and  counteract  Burgoyne's.  He  assured  Wash- 
ington,  on  the  i2th  of  July,  that  he  should  retard  the  enemy's  advance  by  all 
possible  means : 

"  If  my  countrymen  will  support  me  with  vigor  and  dexterity,  and  do  not  meanly  despond, 
we  shall  be  able  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  penetrating  much  further  into  the  country." 

St.  Clair  had  not  above  three  thousand  five  hundred  men  when  he  evacuated 
Ticonderoga,  and  joined  Schuyler  with  only  one  thousand  five  hundred,  the 
militia,  almost  to  a  man,  having  deserted  and  gone  home.  Nixon's  and  Glover's 
Brigades  had  been  ordered  by  Washington  from  Peekskill  to  reinforce 
Schuyler,  and  on  the  i4th  of  July,  when  they  arrived,  they  only  amounted 
to  five  hundred  and  seventy  five  men,  so  that  Schuyler's  whole  strength  did 
not  then  exceed  four  thousand  five  hundred  men,  including  regulars  and 
militia.  The  enemy,  whose  triumphant  progress  he  had  to  check,  amounted  to 
upwards  of  six  thousand  regular  troops,  with  the  best  equipments  in  arms  and 
artillery.  Fort  George  was  abandoned  on  the  i4th  of  July,  for  it  was  utterly 
indefensible,  being  only  part  of  an  unfinished  bastion.  On  the  24th  of  July 
he  retired  with  his  army  to  Moses'  Creek,  four  miles  below  Fort  Edward,  as 
the  latter  was  only  a  heap  of  ruins,  and  commanded  by  the  neighboring  hills. 
The  enemy  kept  pressing  upon  his  advanced  posts,  but,  in  the  midst  of  unpar 
alleled  difficulties,  his  retreat  was  slow  and  safe,  and  every  inch  of  ground 
disputed.  The  distress  of  the  army,  in  want  of  artillery  and  every  other 
military  and  comfortable  equipment,  was  aggravated  by  despondency,  sickness 


l  7 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  287 

and  the  insubordination  of  the  militia.     Almost  all  the  Eastern  militia  had  left 
the  army.     He  writes  to  Washington  as  follows  : 

"  I  shall  go  on  in  doing  my  duty,  and  in  endeavors  to  deserve  your  esteem." 

He  renewed  his  call  on  the  Eastern  States  for  assistance,  and  told  Governor 
Trumbull,  of  Connecticut,  that 

''If  the  Eastern  militia  did  not  turn  out  with  spirit,  and  behave  better,  we  should  be 
ruined."* 

By  the  beginning  of  August  he  was  preparing  to  act  on  the  offensive,  and 
by  his  orders  of  the  joth  of  July  and  i3th  of  August,  1777,  General  Benjamin 
Lincoln  was  directed 

'  '  To  move  with  a  body  of  troops  to  the  north  of  Cambridge,  towards  Skeensborough,  and 
take  command  of  the  troops  under  General  John  Stark  and  Colonel  Seth  Warner,  who  had  orders 
to  join  him,  and  if  he  should  have  force  enough,  to  fall  on  the  enemy  in  that  quarter.'" 

As  Burgoyne  advanced  down  the  Hudson,  Schuyler  retreated,  slowly  and  in 
good  order,  to  Saratoga  and  Stillwater. 

During  this  distressing  period  the  western  branch  of  his  military  district 
was  in  the  utmost  consternation  and  peril.  The  army  under  St.  Leger  had 
besieged  Fort  Schuyler,  and  General  Herkimer,  with  eight  hundred  of  the 
militia,  marching  to  the  relief  of  the  fortress,  was  attacked  by  a  detachment 
of  the  enemy  under  Sir  John  Johnson,  and  defeated  at  Oriskany,  on  the  6th 
of  August.  On  the  i6th  Schuyler  despatched  Arnold,  with  three  regiments, 
amounting  in  the  whole  only  to  five  hundred  and  fifty  men,  to  take  charge  of 
the  military  operations  on  the  Mohawk. 

But  the  period  of  his  eminent  services  was  drawing  to  a  close.  Congress 
suspended  his  command,  and  on  the  iQth  of  August,  17  77,  Gates  arrived  in  camp. 


"  I  am  sensible,"  said  this  great  man,  in  his  letter  to  Congress,  "  of  the  indignity  of  being 
ordered  from  the  command  of  the  army,  at  a  time  when  an  engagement  must  soon  take  place." 

Though  he  was  directed,  by  the  order  of  Congress  of  the  ist  of  August,  to 
repair  to  headquarters,  he  was  afterwards  allowed  by  the  resolution  of  the  i4th 
of  November  to  attend  to  his  private  affairs,  "as  they  had  greatly  suffered  by 
the  barbarous  ravages  of  the  British  Army,"  until  the  Committee  of  Inquiry 
were  ready  to  act. 

As  President  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Indian  Affairs,  he  now  gave 
specific  advice  respecting  the  conduct  of  the  Six  Nations,  and  recommended 
preparations  to  carry  the  war  into  their  territories,  and  which  eventually 
terminated  in  the  expedition  under  General  Sullivan  in  1779. 

*  In  General  Washington's  letter  of  July,  1777,10  General  Benjamin  Lincoln,  ordering  him  to  join  the 
Northern  Army  under  General  Schuyler,  then  opposing  General  Burgoyne,  he  says  : 

"  My  principal  view  in  sending  you  there,  is  to  take  command  of  the  Eastern  Militia,  over  whom,  I  am 
informed,  you  have  influence  and  who  place  confidence  in  you.  I  have  this  day  received  two  letters  from  General 
Schuyler,  in  such  a  style  as  convinces  me,  that  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  to  send  a  determined  officer. 


288  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

After  long  delays  he  was  gratified  to  have  his  military  conduct  tested 
before  a  court-martial,  in  October,  1778.  He  was  tried  and  acquitted,  with 
the  highest  honor,  of  every  charge  preferred  against  him.  Congress,  his 
friends  and  Washington  were  desirous  that  he  should  resume  the  command  of 
the  Northern  Department.  After  repeated  applications,  Congress,  in  April, 
1779,  accepted  his  resignation,  and  Schuyler  withdrew  from  the  army. 

He  was  continued  a  delegate  from  New  York  to  the  Provincial  Congress 
in  1778  and  1779,  on  account  of  his  talents,  activity  and  devotion  to  his 
country.  On  the  3oth  of  March,  1781,  he  was  appointed  by  the  New  York 
Legislature  the  first  Surveyor -General  of  the  State,  and  one  of  the  Commis 
sioners,  in  1784  and  1787,  to  settle  the  boundary  line  between  New  York  and 
Massachusetts.  In  1781,  and  for  several  years  thereafter,  he  was  a  member  of 
the  New  York  State  Senate,  and  took  a  zealous  part  in  promoting  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  in  1789  was  elected  the  first  mem 
ber  of  the  first  United  States  Senate  under  that  Constitution.  He  drafted  the 
acts  for  incorporating  the  Western  and  Northern  inland  lock  navigation  com 
panies,  and  planned  and  constructed  the  locks  at  Little  Falls  on  the  Mohawk, 
which  finally  led  to  the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal. 

In  1797  he  was  again  elected  a  Senator  in  Congress,  and  when  he  took  final 
leave  of  the  Senate  of  his  native  State,  in  an  affecting  address,  it  was  ordered 
to  be  inserted  on  their  journal. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1786,  he  was  elected  Vice-President  of  the  New  York 
Society,  officiating,  at  the  installation  of  the  honorary  members,  with  Baron 
Steuben  on  that  day.*  On  two  occasions  he  sat  for  Trumbull,  once  in  uniform 
(which  is  now  in  the  Trumbull  Gallery),  and  the  other  when  a  Senator,  in  civil 
ian's  dress. 

The  last  few  years  of  his  life  he  spent  in  retirement  at  his  house  in  Albany 
in  Winter,  and  the  Summer  at  Schuylerville,  where  Burgoyne  surrendered. 
Domestic  afflictions  followed  his  military  disappointments.  His  eldest  son, 
John  Bradstreet  Schuyler,  died  at  30  years  of  age,  from  a  fever  contracted 
while  up  the  Mohawk  Valley,  and  his  daughter  Margaret  (Mrs.  Stephen  Van 
Rensselaer),  in  1801.  In  1803  he  lost  the  wife  of  his  youth,  Catharine,  a 
daughter  of  Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer,  and  in  the  next  year  his  son-in-law, 
General  Alexander  Hamilton. 

At  his  decease  he  was  buried  in  the  family  vault  in  the  old  Dutch  Church 
at  Albany  ;  but,  upon  its  demolition,  his  remains  were  removed  to  the  cemetery 
on  the  West  Troy  road,  and  a  suitable  shaft  erected  by  his  granddaughter  (Mrs. 
Starr  Miller)  marking  the  spot.  In  one  of  his  letters  occurs  the  following  : 

"  Consolation  was  to  be  sought,  where  it  can  only  be  truly  and  effectually  found,  in  an 
humble  acquiescence  with  the  Divine  will." 


*  See  ante,  page  8g,rand  errata. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  289 

PHILIP  SCHUYLER,  his  eldest  grandson,  was  admitted  in  1811.  He 
was  the  only  child  of  John  Bradstreet  Schuyler  and  Elizabeth  Van  Rensselaer, 
daughter  of  the  Patroon.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Standing  Committee  until 
he  went  to  England,  in  1840,  as  American  Consul  to  the  port  of  Liverpool. 
He  married  Grace,  daughter  of  Robert  Hunter,  of  New  York,  and  died  at  his 
residence  at  Pelham  Bridge  the  i2th  of  February,  1865,  in  the  77th  year  of 
his  age.  (See  ante,  page  128). 

JOHN  SCHUYLER,  his  great  grandson,  only  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted 
in  1865,  elected  Secretary  in  1879,  ar>d  Treasurer-General  in  1884. 


WILLIAM     SCUDDER* 

Lieutenant  isf  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  in  1800. 

He  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  Society  in  1793. 

Became  an  Associator  on  the  8th  of  May,  1775,  at  Huntington,  Suffolk 
County. 

He  appears  to  have  first  served  in  Canada  as  an  Ensign  in  the  3d  New  York 
Continental  Line,  and  is  mentioned  as  such  in  a  list  made  up  by  General 
Schuyler  on  the  7th  of  October,  1776.  Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  ist 
New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Schaick's— on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776, 
was  in  McKean's  Company,  and  subsequently  promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  in 
January,  1779.  He  was  taken  prisoner  on  the  23d  of  July,  1779,  and  after  his 
exchange  rejoined  his  regiment,  serving  with  it  until  mustered  out  at  the  end 
of  the  war. 

Elias  Dayton  and  others,  in  April,  1776,  certified — 

"That  the  bearer,  Mr.  William  Scudder,  is  of  very  reputable  parentage,  of  considerable 
property  in  this  Town,  and  we  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  his  conduct  has  been  such  as  to 
render  himself  in  any  way  disrespectful,  but  on  the  contrary  believe  him  to  be  a  deserving  young 
Gentleman  and  strongly  attached  to  the  common  cause." 

From  the  following  letter  to  the  Committee  of  Safety  he  appears  to  have 
been  an  Ensign  in  a  company  of  Minute  Men  : 

"  I  would  inform  your  Honors  that  I  received  a  warrant  to  enlist  men  for  your  Province, 
Henry  O'Hara,  being  Captain,  for  which  I  have  listed  and  have  in  Billet,  in  New  Jersey,  about 
thirty-five.  They  have  been  there  about  six  weeks  on  my  expense,  the  Captain  went  to  Albany 
seven  weeks  ago  recruiting,  and  was  to  have  returned  in  three  weeks.  I  have  had  no  intelligence 
from  him  since.  I  know  not  what  to  do  with  the  men,  as  they  call  on  me  daily  for  money  or  they 

*  His  widow  received  aid  for  many  years  from  the  Society's  fund. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

will  desert.     Likewise  the  Jersey  people  are  vexed  that  their  Militia  is  called  away,  while  they  are 
under  pay  and  doing  nothing. 

"  I  beg  Gentlemen  that  you'll  take  some  method  for  my  relief     WILLIAM  SCUDDER." 

His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll  as  Lieutenant. 
ASA  SCUDDER,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1802. 


JOHN   SHAW 

Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Died  on  the  i4th  of  July,  1826. 

Appointed  Lieutenant  in  Moodie's  Company,  2d  Regiment  Continental 
Corps  of  Artillery— Colonel  Lamb's— on  the  isth  of  January,  1782,  from  Albany, 
N.  Y.  In  a  communication  dated  at  Poughkeepsie,  i5th  January,  1782, 
Governor  George  Clinton  said  : 

"  I  am  not  personally  acquainted  with  this  you»g  gentleman,  but  both  as  a  citizen  and  an 
officer  of  the  Levies  of  this  State  he  sustains  a  good  character. " 

Honorably  discharged,  with  a  portion  of  his  regiment,  on  the  ist  of  Jan 
uary,  1784. 

He  married  Isabella  Denniston,*  by  whom  he  had  a  large  family  of  children. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

JOHN  HUGH  SHAW,  his  eldest  grandson,  was  admitted  in  1845,  and 
died  in  1879,  leaving  no  male  issue. 


ISAAC  SMITH 

Lieutenant  New    York   Artillery.  ^ 

Appointed  Lieutenant  in  Bliss"  Company,  2d  Regiment  Continental  Corps  of 
Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's — on  the  2ist  of  December,  1781. 

Honorably  discharged  the  service,  with  a  portion  of  his  regiment,  on  the  3d 
of  November,  1783.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 

*  She  received  aid  from  the  Society's  fund  for  many  years. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  2QI 

ISRAEL  SMITH 

Paymaster  and  Captain  2d  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  at  Poughkeepsie. 

Appointed  First  Lieutenant  2(1  Regiment  New  York  Continental  Infantry — 
Colonel  James  Clinton's — on  the  24th  of  February,  1776,  and  Regimental  Pay 
master  on  the  1 5th  of  May  following.  Appointed  Captain  of  the  Tenth  Com 
pany  of  the  4th  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  H.  B.  Livingston's — on  the  2ist 
of  November,  1776,  and  transferred  to  the  Fifth  Company  of  the  2d  New 
York — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's — upon  the  consolidation  of  the  New  York  Line 
into  two  regiments.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


JOHN  SMITH 

Lieutenant   Neiv    York   Artillery. 

Died  on  the  i5th  of  June,  1811,  unmarried. 

He  is  said  to  have  been  appointed  on  the  loth  of  May,  1777,  an  Ensign  in 
Colonel  William's  R.  Lee's  Regiment  (additional)  Massachusetts  Continental 
Infantry,  but  resigned  en  the  8th  of  April,  1779.  Subsequently,  in  the  follow 
ing  November,  he  was  appointed  a  Lieutenant  of  Marines  on  the  United  States 
Frigate  "  Boston,"  and  taken  prisoner  at  the  surrender  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  on 
the  2d  of  May,  1780,  but  exchanged  in  the  same  year. 

Appointed  Lieutenant  in  the  2d  Regiment,  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — 
Colonel  Lamb's — on  the  28th  of  June,  1781,  and  honorably  discharged,  with  his 
regiment,  on  the  3d  of  November,  1783. 

Transferred  to  Captain  John  Doughty 's  Artillery  Company  on  the  peace 
establishment,  i2th  of  April,  1785.  Promoted  to  Captain  in  the  ist  Regiment 
of  United  States  Infantry  on  the  2oth  of  October,  1786.  Promoted  to  be 
Major  of  the  2d  Regiment  United  States  Infantry  on  the  28th  of  December, 
1791,  and  placed  in  the  2d  Sub-Legion  on  the  2d  of  September,  1792. 

Resigned  on  the  ist  of  October,  1793,  and  settled  in  South  Carolina. 
Appointed  Lieutenant-Colonel  (Commandant)  of  the  5th  Regiment  United  States 
Infantry  in  July,  1799.  Honorably  discharged  the  service,  with  his  regiment 
on  the  i5th  of  June,  1800.  Appointed  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  3d  Regimen 
United  States  Infantry  on  the  gth  of  January,  1809,  which  position  he  held 
until  his  decease.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


292  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

WILLIAM  STEUBEN  SMITH,  his  nephew,  the  eldest  son  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel 'William  Stephens  Smith,  was  admitted  in  1815  as  the  collateral,  his 
father  being  a  member.  He  was  Secretary  of  Legation  at  the  Court  of  St. 
Petersburgh,  married  Catherine  Johnson,  and  died  without  issue,  on  the  i2th 
of  May,  1850. 

WILLIAM  STEPHENS   SMITH 

Lieutenant-Colonel  i^th    Massachusetts  Regiment  and  Aide-de-Camp. 

Born  in  New  York  City  in  1755.  Died  on  the  loth  of  June,  1816,  at 
Lebanon,  N.  Y. 

He  graduated  at  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  Studied  law  with  Samuel 
Jones,  until  the  Revolution  broke  out,  when  he  joined  the  army  as  a  volunteer. 
The  estate  of  his  father,  Captain  John  Smith,  was  soon  after  confiscated. 

Appointed  in  1776  an  Aide-de-Camp  to  General  John  Sullivan,  with  the  rank 
of  Lieutenant,  and  was  taken  prisoner  with  him  in  the  Battle  of  Long  Island;  but 
escaping  the  same  day,  he  is  said  to  have  left  the  island  in  a  barge  with  the 
Commander-in-Chief.  Subsequently  he  brought  a  garrison  across  Hell  Gate 
under  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  and  on  the  next  day  was  wounded  at  Harlem  Heights, 
while  acting  as  Aide  to  General  Greene.  When  the  British  landed  in  October 
at  Throgg's  Neck,  he,  with  a  corporal  and  six  men,  destroyed  the  bridge  con 
necting  it  with  the  main  land  at  the  Village  of  Westchester,  thereby  compelling 
the  enemy  to  retreat,  and  reembarking,  they  landed  further  up  Long  Island 
Sound  the  next  day  at  Pell's  Neck,  where,  after  a  sharp  engagement  with 
Sullivan's  division,  they  filed  off  to  New  Rochelle  and  so  to  White  Plains.  He 
then  rejoined  General  Sullivan— who  had  been  exchanged— and  proceeded 
with  him  to  White  Plains,  covering  the  removal  of  the  stores.  The  British, 
having  taken  both  Fort  Washington  and  Fort  Lee,  went  into  Winter  quarters 
on  Manhattan  Island,  with  Lord  Cornwallis  over  in  New  Jersey.  Washington 
now  crossed  the  Hudson  further  up,  with  General  Greene  in  the  advance, 
leaving  General  Charles  Lee  and  General  Sullivan  to  protect  the  rear  and 
follow  on  to  the  Delaware. 

General  Lee  now  sent  him  with  a  flag  and  important  dispatches  to  Lord 
Howe  at  New  York,  and  arriving  at  the  enemy's  advanced  post  at  King's 
Bridge,  he  forwarded  them.  After  several  days  delay,  receiving  the  answer,  he 
returned  and  joined  Lee,  who  had  crossed  the  Hudson,  following  up  the  main 
army.  After  Lee  was  taken  by  the  British,  in  his  slippers  and  night-cap,  in  a 
farm  house  three  miles  away  from  his  command,  Lieutenant  Smith  rejoined 
General  Sullivan  at  headquarters  at  Newton,  N.  J. 


•  •••  - 


LIEUT.    COL.    WILLIAM    STEPHENS   SMITH. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  293 

Washington  crossed  the  Delaware  on  the  night  of  the  25th  of  December, 
1776,  and  surprised  the  Hessians  under  General  Rhal  at  Trenton,  where  Lieu 
tenant  Smith,  with  the  advance  corps  of  Sullivan's  division,  took  possession-of 
Millbridge  and  captured  the  officer  in  command.  Washington  sent  him  to  the 
enemy's  advanced  post  at  Princeton  with  a  flag  and  money  for  the  prisoner, 
General  Charles  Lee,  who  was  at  New  Brunswick. 

When  the  army  was  marching  through  New  Jersey  in  1777,  the  roads  being 
in  a  horrible  condition,  the  advanced  corps  halted,  and  La  Fayette  sent  Lieu 
tenant  Smith  to  ascertain  the  cause,  and  when  informed  the  forward  camp 
wagon  was  stuck  in  the  mud,  declared  "  that  the  quartermaster  deserved  to  be 
hung."  Smith  replied,  "If  you  will  execute  the  warrant,  sir,  it  shall  be 
instantly  executed." 

In  June,  1778,  when  the  British  evacuated  Philadelphia,  Arnold  was  sent 
ahead  to  Allentown,  where,  overtaking  them,  he  attacked  their  rear  all  the  way 
to  Monmouth,  when  General  Charles  Lee — who  had  lately  been  exchanged — 
coming  up  with  three  thousand  picked  troops,  Arnold  took  possession  of  a 
commanding  position  in  the  enemy's  front,  until  ordered  to  retreat  by  General 
Lee,  just  at  the  critical  moment  when  they,  in  all  probability,  would  have  been 
obliged  to  surrender,  instead  of  pursuing  their  march  to  Middleton  Point  and 
embarking  from  Sandy  Hook  in  the  British  ships  to  Ne'w  York.  This  may 
account  for  his  motive  in  sending  important  dispatches  to  the  enemy  by  Lieu 
tenant  Smith.  At  all  events,  Washington  meeting  him  while  retreating,  found 
he  was  not  the  right  man  in  the  right  place,  and  arrested  him. 

When  General  Sullivan  was  ordered  to  the  Siege  of  Newport,  the  i3th 
Massachusetts  Regiment  was  in  his  division,  and  Lieutenant  Smith  was  pro 
moted  to  be  its  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  went  into  Winter  quarters  at  Providence. 
He  accompanied  General  Sullivan,  in  the  following  year,  in  his  expedition 
against  the  Indians  in  the  West,  and  took  command  of  the  batteaux  with  the 
stores  on  the  Susquehanna,  and  after  defeating  the  Indians  returned  to  Morris- 
town,  N.  J.,  for  the  Winter.  When  the  Light  Infantry,  of  three  thousand  men, 
were  placed  under  La  Fayette,  he  was  appointed  the  Adjutant  and  Sub-Inspector 
on  the  Staff  of  Baron  Steuben. 

In  the  campaign  against  Yorktown  he  was  appointed  an  Aide  to  General 
Washington  by  Congress,  and  served  as  such  at  the  surrender,  when  it  is 
claimed  he  presented  Lord  Cornwallis  to  the  Commander-in-Chief. 

After  spending  the  Winter  in  Philadelphia  as  one  of  Washington's  family, 
he  was  sent  to  Dobb's  Ferry,  N.  Y.,  as  Commissary  of  Prisoners,  and  while 
arranging  the  exchanges,  is  said  to  have  visited  New  York  City,  receiving 
marked  civilities  from  Sir  Guy  Carlton.  He  was  afterward  one  of  the  Com- 


294  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

missioners  to  arrange  for  the  final  evacuation  of  New  York  City  by  the  British 
on  the  25th  of  November,  1783. 

After  the  war  he  was  appointed  Secretary  of  Legation  under  John  Adams, 
the  Minister  to  Great  Britain,  and  while  there  married  his  only  daughter, 
Abigail.  When  he  returned,  Washington,  then  President  of  the  United  States, 
appointed  him  the  Marshal  of  the  District  of  New  York,  on  the  26th  of  Sep 
tember,  i  789. 

He  revisited  Europe,  but  soon  afterwards  returned,  and  held  the  office  cf 
Surveyor  and  Inspector  of  the  Customs  of  the  Port  of  New  York.  In  1790  he 
was  elected  Secretary  of  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  and 
President  in  1795.  . 

In  1808  he  retired  to  private  life  on  his  farm  at  Lebanon,  Madison  County, 
N.  Y.,  where  he  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1813. 

It  is  related  of  him  that  the  spy,  Major  John  Andre,  had  requested  by  his 
will,  which  was  filed  at  Tappan,  that  his  gold  watch  should  be  given  to  a 
relative  in  England  ;  and  after  his  execution,  on  October  2d,  1780,  it  was  sold 
for  thirty  guineas  to  Lieutenant- Colonel  Smith,  who  sent  it  to  General  Robertson, 
to  be  forwarded  as  requested,  but  for  some  reason  it  failed  to  be  so  disposed  of, 
and  having  been  sent  back  to  New  York  was  again  sold,  it  is  said,  for  five 
hundred  guineas.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

WILLIAM  STEUBEN  SMITH,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1815  by 
the  Society,  while  his  father  was  alive  and  a  member,  as  the  collateral  successor 
of  his  uncle,  Lieutenant  John  Smith,  but  died,  without  leaving  issue,  on  the  i2th 
of  May,  1850. 

EPHRAIM    SNOW 

Lieutenant    \st  New    York   Regiment. 

Appointed  in  1775  an  Ensign  in  the  2d  New  York  Continental  Regiment — 
Colonel  Van  Schaick's — and  served  with  it  in  Canada.  Promoted  to  be  Second 
Lieutenant  of  the  Eighth  Company  of  the  ist  New  York  Regiment — Colonel 
McDougall's — on  the  24th  of  March,  1776,  and  of  the  Colonel's  Company  on 
consolidation  of  the  New  York  Line,  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776.  Pro 
moted  to  be  Lieutenant  in  the  Eourth  Company  on  the  26th  of  March,  1779, 
and  served  as  the  recruiting  officer  of  the  regiment  until  mustered  out. 

In  1806  he  appears  to  have  been  elected  Sheriff  of  Herkimer  County,  N.  Y. 

He  married  Chloe  Williams,*  by  whom  he  had  one  son  only.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


!  She  received  aid  from  the  Society's  fund  for  many  years. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  295 

EPHRAIM   SNOW,  his  only  son,  was  admitted   in    1809,  having  married 
Lucy  Lester,  and  died  without  male  issue. 


JOHN  STAGG,  JR. 

Lieutenant,  Spencer  s  (additional}  Regiment,  New  Jersey. 

Born  in  1758.     Died  on  the  s8th  of  December,  1803,  in  New  York  City. 

His  father  was  an  Associator  in  Haverstraw  Precinct  in  May,  1775,  and 
through  him  he  was  appointed  a  Captain  of  Minute  Men. 

Commissioned  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  Oliver  Spencer's  (additional)  Con 
tinental  Regiment  on  the  4th  of  March,  1778,  and  acted  for  a  while  as 
its  paymaster.  At  Valley  Forge,  it  is  claimed,  he  was  Secretary  to  General 
Washington.  Upon  the  establishment  of  the  War  Office,  Washington,  then 
President,  had  him  appointed  one  of  its  clerks,  which  office  he  held  for  eight 
years. 

In  1801  he  was  elected  Sheriff  of  New  York,  and  died  of  yellow  fever  while 
in  office. 

He  married,  first,  Phebe  Wood,  by  whom  he  had  only  one  child,  Harriet 
(Mrs.  William  W.  Van  Wyck)  ;  and,  secondly,  Margaret,  the  daughter  of 
William  de  Peyster,  by  whom  he  had  a  large  family.  His  name  appears  on  the 
Half-Pay  Roll. 

JOHN  LIVINGSTON  STAGG,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1813,  and 
died  unmarried. 


JOHN  STAKE 

Lieutenant   Light    Dragoons. 

He  appears  in  the  "  Balloting  Book  "  of  the  State  of  New  York  as  a  Cornet 
of  Cavalry,  and  awarded  eleven  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land  for  his  services, 
having  served  to  the  end  of  the  war,  with  rank  of  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  Von 
Heer's*  Light  Dragoons.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


*  The  following  letter  of  his  is  interesting,  and  shows  how  he  battled  with  the  English  language  as  well  as  for 

the  cause: 

"  RAEDING  Decemper  24.  1783. 
"  DEER  SIR 

"  I  schould  Dack  it  as  a  graet  faver,  you  wold  be  so  kint  as  to  Ender  my  Name  and  Ca.pt  Jacob  Mytinger  of  my 
Troop  in  the  Boock  of  Sociedy  of  Sencinates  for  whech  we  have  Laft  a  Monts  Pay  whet  the  Pay  Master  Generale 
of  the  arMy.  and  hafe  encloset  a  Certificat  from  the  Pay  Master  Generale,  wheih  mentionet  that  the  Money 


296  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

JEHOSHAPHAT   STARR 

Ensign  $d  Connecticut  Regiment. 

He  was  admitted  at  a  meeting  of  the  New  York  State  Society,  held  on  the 
1 2th  of  August,  1786,  signing  the  roll  as  Ensign  of  Colonel  S.  B.  Webb's,  late 
Connecticut  Regiment;  but  does  not  appear  to  have  deposited  his  one  month's 
pay  in  the  Society's  fund.  He  does  not  appear  either,  to  have  been  entitled  to 
the  benefits  of  the  officers  who  served  in  accordance  with  the  Act  of  Congress, 
entitling  them  to  half-pay  for  life  and  land  warrants  at  the  termination  of  the 
war. 

GERARD    STEDDIFORD 

Lieutenant  ^th  Pennsylvania  Regiment. 

Born  in  1752.     Died  on  the  3d  of  April,  1820. 

He  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  Society  in  1789. 

Appointed  Regimental  Quartermaster  of  the  3d  Regiment,  Pennsylvania 
Continental  Infantry— John  Shee's — on  the  9th  of  February,  1776,  and  Ensign 
on  the  23d  of  March  following.  In  the  capture  of  Fort  Washington,  on  the 
i6th  of  November,  1776,  he  «was  taken  prisoner,  and  not  exchanged  until  1778. 
In  the  meanwhile,  on  the  reorganization  of  the  Pennsylvania  Continental  Line 
for  the  war,  he  was  arranged  in  the  4th  Pennsylvania  Regiment,  Continental 
Infantry — Colonel  Lambert  Cadwallader's — and  on  the  i2th  of  October,  1777, 
promoted  to  be  Lieutenant.  Upon  his  release  he  joined  his  regiment,  and 
served  with  it  until  honorably  discharged,  at  his  own  request,  on  the  23d  of 
May,  1781. 

He  resided  in  New  York  City  after  the  war,  and  married  Jane  Bicker,  by 
whom  he  had  one  son  and  four  daughters.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- 
Pay  Roll. 

HENRY  BICKER  STEDDIFORD,  his  only  son,  was  admitted  in  1820, 
and  died  unmarried. 


May  be  Trowen  as  Sun  the  order  is  Broeduset.  I  schall  be  Blaesed  to  you,  you  will  Rid  me  a  lader  and  Mentionet 
what  Money  must  be  send  for  Endrens,  if  der  is  any  oder  Expendes,  you  will  be  so  kint  as  to  lad  us  know.  My  seff 
and  Capt  Mytenges  will  comply  whit  whet  you  schalle  sin  proper. 

"  Sir,  I  Remin  whet  the  Gradest  Estim 

"Your  Efectiont  frend  and  M.  H.  S. 
"  Col  HARMER,  at  Mrs  Shrunks  Tavern,  "  BARTHEW  VON  HEER 

"  Second  Street,  Philadelphia.  "  Major  Light  Dragoons." 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  297 


STEUBEN 

Major-  General. 

Frederick  William  Augustus  {Baron)  Von  Steuben  was  born  in  Magdeburg, 
Prussia,  on  the  i5th  of  November,  1730,  and  died  at  Steubenville,  N.  Y.,  on 
the  28th  of  November,  1795,  unmarried. 

He  was  educated  at  the  Jesuit  Colleges  of  Neisse  and  Breslau,  a  Cadet  in 
an  Infantry  Regiment  in  1747,  and  served  us  a  volunteer  with  his  father,  under 
Frederick  the  Great,  at  the  Siege  of  Prague.  In  1758  he  was  an  Adjutant- 
General  at  Kunnersdorf,  where  he  was  wounded,  and  in  1762,  with  several 
other  young  officers,  served  at  the  Siege  of  Schneidnitz.  In  1764,  he  was 
appointed  Grand-Marshal  of  the  Prince's  Guard.  He  was  a  Knight  of  the 
Order  of  Fidelity. 

Coming  to  America  in  November,  1777,  he  offered  his  services  to  Genera, 
Washington  as  a  volunteer,  and  going  to  York,  Penn.,  where  Congress  was 
sitting,  he  was  instructed  to  report  to  the  Commander-in-Chief  at  Valley  Forge, 
where  he  was  astonished  at  the  want  and  suffering  of  the  troops,  declaring 
"that  under  them  no  European  army  could  be  kept  together."  On  the  29th  of 
March,  1778,  he  was  appointed  by  Congress  Inspector-General,  with  the  rank  of 
Major-  General. 

In  1779  Congress  adopted  his  "Manual,"  inaugurating  a  system  of  police, 
which  was  of  infinite  .value,  saving  waste  of  tents,  arms,  accoutrements  and 
ammunition,  and  long  before  the  conclusion  of  the  war  the  army  arrived  under 
it  at  the  highest  standard  of  discipline.  Prominent  men  and  officers  were  his 
selected  associates,  yet  others  of  inferior  rank  also  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of 
his  table.  "Poor  fellows,"  he  said,  "they  have  field-officers'  stomachs,  without 
their  pay  and  rations." 

In  October,  1780,  he  was  one  of  the  court-martial  that  condemned  the 
unfortunate  spy,  Major  John  Andre,  and  immediately  afterwards,  when  General 
Greene  surperseded  Gates,  after  his  defeat,  Steuben  accompanied  him  in  the 
Southern  Campaign. 

Most  of  his  imported  camp  equipage  he  sold  in  order  that  he  might  return 
the  hospitalities  of  the  French  officers,  saying,  "  I  can  stand  it  no  longer ;  I 
will  give  one  grand  dinner  to  our  allies,  should  I  eat  my  soup  with  a  wooden 
spoon  forever  after." 

Returning  to  the  north,  after  the  surrender  at  Yorktown,  he  continued  with 
the  army  until  peace  was  proclaimed.  Rising  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning, 


298  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

while  his  valet  dressed  his  hair,  he  would  smoke  his  pipe,  drink  his  cup  of 
coffee,  jump  on  his  horse,  and  with  his  staff  was  at  parade  at  sunrise. 

It  is  told  of  him  that  upon  his  being  presented  to  the  attractive  sister  of  the 
British  General  Sheaffe,  he  informed  her  that  he  had  been  cautioned  in  his 
early  youth  "to  be  on  his  guard  against  Miss  S/ica/e"  (mischief). 

An  annuity  for  life  of  $2,500  was  granted  him  by  Congress,  and  several 
of  the  States  passed  resolutions  acknowledging  his  services,  presenting  him 
with  grants  of  land.  New  Jersey  gave  him  a  small  farm,  and  New  York 
sixteen  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Oneida  County,  where,  in  a  cabin,  which 
he  called  the  "Palace  of  Logs"  he  settled  down,  cultivating  only  about  sixty 
acres,  and  passing  the  later  years  of  his  life,  like  the  Roman  General,  Cincin- 
natus.  The  books  he  had  collected  appear  to  have  been  his  only  companions, 
when  his  Aides,  Walker,  North  and  Fairlie,  were  absent. 

A  stroke  of  apoplexy  finally  called  him  away  from  life,  and  wrapped  in  his 
military  cloak,  in  a  pine  coffin,  as  he  had  directed,*  he  was  buried  at  his  home 
in  the  wilderness.  A  highway  subsequently  being  located  over  his  grave, f 
Major  Walker  had  his  body  removed  to  another  and  more  secluded  position, 
and  as  the  Baron  had  requested,  no  stone  was  placed  to  indicate  the  spot.  A 
mural  tablet  was  erected  in  the  German  Reformed  Church,  which  stood  in 
Nassau  Street,  between  Maiden  Lane  and  John,  which  reads  as  follows  : 


*  The  people  of  the  State  of  New  York  by  the  grace  of  God,  free  and  independent. 

To  all  ivhom  these  presents  shall  concern  or  may  come,  send  greeting  : 

Know  ye  that  in  the  registry  of  our  Court  of  Probate  there  are  registered  certain  letters  testamentary  in  the 
words  following,  to  wit  : 

I,  FREDERICK  WILLIAM,  BARON  DE  STEUBEN,  of  the  City  and  State  of  New  York,  do  make  this 
my  last  will  and  testament,  sufficient  reasons  having  determined  me  to  exclude  my  relations  in  Europe  from  any 
participation  in  my  estate  in  America  and  to  adopt  my  friends  and  former  aides-de-camp,  Benjamin  Walker  and 
William  North  as  my  children,  and  make  them  sole  devisees  of  all  my  estates,  as  herein  afterward  is  otherwise 
disposed  of.  In  consequence  thereof  I  bequeath  the  said  Benjamin  Walker  the  sum  of  $3,000  and  the  gold-hilted 
sword  given  me  by  Congress.  To  the  said  William  North  I  bequeath  my  silver-hilled  sword  and  the  gold  box 
given  me  by  the  City  of  New  York.  To  John  J.  Mulligan  I  bequeath  the  whole  of  my  library,  maps  and  charts, 
and  the  sum  of  $2,500  to  complete  it.  And  to  each  of  my  sen-ants  living  with  me  at  the  time  of  my  decease,  one 
year's  wages  ;  and  besides  this,  to  my  valet  de  chambre,  all  my  wearing  apparel  ;  but  I  do  hereby  declare  that 
these  legacies  to  my  servants  are  on  the -following  conditions:  That  on  my  decease  they  do  not  permit  any  person  to 
touch  my  body,  not  even  to  change  the  shirt  in  which  I  shall  die,  but  that  they  wrap  me  up  in  my  old  military  cloak, 
and  in  twenty-four  hours  after  my  decease  bury  me  in  such  spot  as  I  shall  before  my  decease  point  out  to  them, 
and  that  they  never  acquaint  any  person  with  the  place  where  I  shall  be  buried.  And  lastly,  I  do  give,  devise  and 
bequeath  all  the  rest  and  residue  of  my  estate,  real  and  personal,  after  the  payment  of  my  debts  and  legacies 
aforesaid,  to  the  said  Benjamin  Walker  and  William  North,  to  hold  to  them,  their  heirs,  executors  and  adminis 
trators,  share  and  share  alike,  hereby  appointing  the  said  Benjamin  Walker  and  William  North  executors  of  this 
my  last  will  and  testament,  and  revoking  all  former Wills  by  me  heretofore  made.  ^ 

NEW  YORK,  February  12,  1794.  [SEAL]     STEUJ5EN.     [SEAL] 

Signed,  sealed  and  declared  as  the  last  will  and  testament  of  the  above  testator  in  the  presence  of  and  attested 
by  us  in  his  presence,  CHARLES  WILLIAMSON, 

CHARLES  ADAMS, 
W.  H.   ROBINSON, 

City  of  New  York. 

The  above  will  was  offered  and  admitted  to  probate  February  2,  1795,  by  William  H.  Robinson  and  is  attested 
by  Peter  Beekman,  Clerk  of  Probate  Court,  New  York  City. 

t  See  ante,  page  100. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  299 

Sacred  to  the  Memory  of 
FRED.  WILL.  AUG.  BARON  STEUBEN. 

A  German. 

Knight  of  the  order  of  Fidelity  : 

Aide  de  Camp  to  Frederick  the  Great,  King  of  Prussia  : 
Major  General  and  Inspector  General 

In  the  Revolutionary  War. 

Esteemed,  respected,  and  supported  by  Washington, 

He  gave  Military  Skill  and  discipline 

To  the  Citizen-Soldiers  : 

Who 

— Fulfilling  the  decrees  of  Heaven, — 

Achieved  the  Independence  of  the  United  States. 

The  highly  polished  manners  of  the  Baron 

Were  graced 

By  the  most  noble  feelings  of  the  heart : 

His   hand,    '  Open   as   day   for    melting    charity,' 

Closed  only  in  the  strong  grasp  of  death. 

This  Memorial  is  inscribed 

By  an  American 

Who  had  the  honor  to  be  his  Aide-de-Camp — 

The  happiness  to  be  his  Friend.* 

Ob.      1795. 

He  was  elected  Vice-President  of  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cin 
cinnati  in  1785,  and  President,  presiding  at  the  inauguration  of  the  first 
honorary  members,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1786. 

At  the  Centennial  Celebration  of  the  Surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis  at 
Yorktown,  several  of  the  descendants  of  a  collateral  branch  of  Steuben's 
family  came  over  from  Germany,  at  the  invitation  of  the  United  States,  to 
assist  on  the  occasion. 

When  in  the  French  service,  he  was  known  as  baron  de  Steuben,  but  in 
America,  he  dropped  this  title  of  nobility  and  signed  himself  Steuben. 


EBENEZER    STEVENS 

Lieutenant-Colonel  New  York  Artillery. 

Born  in  Boston  on  the  nth  of  August,  1751.  Died  at  Rockaway,  L.  I.,  on 
the  2d  of  September,  1823. 

He  was  the  son  of  Ebenezer  Stevens,  of  Roxbury,  Mass.,  and  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Weld,  a  non-conformist  clergyman.  In  Decem 
ber,  1773,  he  was  one  of  the  "Tea  Party,"  and  afterwards  became  a  merchant 
at  Providence. 

*  Supposed  to  have  been  Major  William  North. 


3CO  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Commissioned  by  the  Assembly  a  Lieutenant  on  the  8th  of  May,  1775,  and 
raised  two  companies  of  artillery  for  the  expedition  against  Quebec.  Appointed 
Captain  in  Henry  Knox's  Artillery  on  the  ist  of  January,  1776,  and  promoted 
to  be  its  Major  on  the  pth  of  November  following. 

Adjutant-General  Wilkinson  says,  in  his  report  from  Saratoga,  on  the  xoth 
of  October,  1777  : 

"  The  commanding  officer  of  artillery,  Major  Stevens,  gallant,  vigilant  and  ready  to 
improve  every  advantage,  ran  a  couple  of  light  field  pieces  down  the  plain,  near  the  river,  and 
opened  a  battery  upon  the  batteaux  and  watering  party  at  the  landing,  which  soon  dispersed  it, 
but  this  drew  the  fire  of  the  enemy's  whole  post  upon  him  from  the  heights,  obliging  him  to 
retire,  after  the  loss  of  a  tumbril,  which  was  blown  up  by  the  enemy  and  caused  a  shout  from  the 
whole  British  army." 

Congress  on  the  3oth  of  April,  1778 — 

"  Resolved,  That  Major  Ebenezer  Stevens,  in  consideration  of  his  services  and  the  strict 
attention  with  which  he  discharged  his  duty,  as  commanding  officer  of  artillery  in  the  Northern 
Department,  durmg  two  campaigns,  take  rank  (by  brevet)  as  a  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  Foot,  and 
that  he  be  commissioned  accordingly.'' 

Also,  on  the  24th  of  November,  [778 — 

"  Resolved,  That  Lieutenant-Colonel  Stevens  of  the  Artillery,  now  holding  that  rank  by 
brevet,  be  appointed  a  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  Artillery,  and  that  his  commission  bear  date  from 
that  of  his  brevet,  and  that  he  be  entitled  to  take  command  of  the  first  vacancy  that  may  fall  in 
the  artillery." 

On  the  1 7th  of  December,  1778,  he  was  accordingly  assigned  to  the  26. 
Regiment,  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel  John  Lamb's — vice  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Eleazer  Oswald,  resigned.  Receiving  his  orders  at  West  Point 
and  joining  the  regiment  at  White  Plains,  he  marched  with  it  into  Winter 
quarters  in  1778. 

To  a  Committee  of  Congress,  after  the  war,  he  made  the  following  report 
of  the  expedition  from  Head  of  Elk  to  Annapolis  : 

"  In  the  Spring  of  1781  I  commanded  the  artillery  on  an  expedition  to  Portsmouth, 
Virginia,  under  the  Marquis  de  la  Fayette.  The  division  halted  in  the  City  of  Annapolis.  The 
British,  hearing  of  our  being  there,  sent  two—  twenty-gun — ships,  and  blockaded  the  harbor. 
We  remained  there  six  weeks,  several  councils  of  war  were  held,  after  the  Commander-in  Chief 
had  ordered  us  back  to  headquarters,  and  it  was  thought  impracticable  to  retreat  by  water.  A 
majority  were  for  returning  by  land,  and  officers  were  sent  out  to  procure  teams,  to  remove  the 
artillery  and  stores.  They  were  out  ten  days,  but  returned  without  being  able  to  procure  any. 
Another  council  was  held,  and  I  proposed  to  return  by  water  to  th*  Head  of  Elk  by  removing 
those  ships  out  of  the  Bay.  My  plans  were  thought  impracticable  by  Governor  Lee,  my  friend, 
who  told  the  Marquis  if  the  vessels  that  I  took  were  lost  he  must  pay  for  them.  The  Marquis 
then  told  me  to  go  on  and  he  would  assist  me.  I  fitted  up  two  sloops  of  about  sixty  tons  burthen 
with  ten  eight-pounders  each,  and  a  travelling  forge  in  their  holds,  and  raised  an  awning  upon 
their  decks.  The  whole  was  done  in  three  days,  and  manning  each  with  two  hundred  volunteers, 
sent  them  out  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  drove  the  enemy's  ships  from  their  moor 
ings,  and  thus  opened  the  passage  for  our  own  detachment,  which  arrived  at  the  Head  of  Elk  by 
water  that  night.  I  do  not  know  what  would  have  been  the  consequence  had  we  returned  by 
land  and  left  our  little  fleet  and  siege  artillery  behind,  but  it  was  thought  by  Governor  Lee  that 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  301 

our  vessels  would  have  fallen  into  their  hands,  and  the  defenceless  city  been  plundered  and 
burned.  If  Congress  had  known  of  it  they  might  have  honored  me  with  a  mark  of  their  approba 
tion.  The  Marquis  wrote  the  Commander-in  Chief  respecting  my  conduct.  This  I  had  by 
letter  from  General  Knox."* 

Upon  his  return  to  Philadelphia,  General  Knox  wrote  to  him  as  follows  : 

' '  I  lament  your  being  disappointed  of  an  opportunity  of  exhibiting,  before  the  French  and 
Mr.  Arnold  especially,  after  the  great  exertions  you  have  made,  of  which  the  Marquis  has  written 
in  the  handsomest  terms  to  the  Commander-in-Chief." 

He  rendered  efficient  service  with  his  Park  at  Yorktown,  which  was  acknowl 
edged  by  the  Commander-in-Chief,  in  general  orders,  as  follows  : 

"  The  skill  so  conspicuously  manifested  in  the  management  and  direction  of  the  cannon  and 
mortars,  have  convinced  our  noble  allies,  and  brought  home  to  the  feelings  of  our  enemies,  that 
the  officers  of  the  American  artillery,  have  acquired  a  respectable  knowledge  in  their  profession. '' 

In  January,  1782,  he  was  at  Burlington  recruiting,  and  was  again  stationed 
at  West  Point,  until  mustered  out  of  the  service. 

In  July,  1783,  he  was  commissioned  by  General  Benjamin  Lincoln,  then 
Secretary  of  War,  to  erect  an  arsenal  to  replace  the  old  State  Magazine,  burned 
by  the  enemy.  On  the  evacuation  of  New  York  City  by  the  British,  when  the 
Army  of  the  Revolution  entered,  he  was  at  the  head  of  his  command. 

When  it  was  afterward  proposed  to  divide  the  United  States  into  four 
Military  Departments,  Washington  offered  him  the  command  of  one  of  them, 
but  he  declined  further  military  service. 

After  the  peace  he  became  a  very  successful  merchant  in  New  York  City, 
building  up  an  extensive  foreign  connection,  especially  with  France  ;  was  a 
member  of  the  New  York  State  Legislature  in  1800  ;  Alderman  of  the  Third 
Ward,  New  York  City,  in  1802  ;  Major-General  of  the  State  Artillery;  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  Tammany  Society  or  Columbian  Order,  instituted  in  1789  ; 
one  of  the  founders  and  President  of  the  New  England  Society,  organized  in 
1805;  and  one  of  the  three  Commissioners  in  1812  charged  with  the  construc 
tion  of  the  defences  of  the  City  of  New  York.f 

Colonel  Stevens  personal  appearance  has  been  admirably  perpetuated  by 
Trumbull  in  his  celebrated  picture,  in  the  Rotunda  of  the  Capitol  at  Washing 
ton,  of  the  "  Surrender  of  Burgoyne,"  representing  him  leaning  upon  a  cannon  ; 


*  Washington,  writing  from  New  Windsor,  gives  La  Fayette  the  credit. 

t  In  another  letter,  after  the  war,  written  on  the  isth  of  August,  1798,  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  in  answer 
to  an  inquiry  for  his  opinion  as  to  the  defence  of  New  York  harbor,  then  proposed  to  be  by  galleys  or  gunboats,  he 
advises : 

"  That,  he  was  confident  they  never  could  be  managed  in  that  harbor  on  account  of  the  velocity  of  the  tides. 
I  fitted  out  several  galleys  in  the  Northern  Department  in  '76  and  *77t  and  they  were  lost  as  fast  as  they  were 
equipped.  I  have  seen  floating  batteries  which  mounted  twenty  twenty-four-pounders.  It  is  next  to  impossible  to 
move  them,  and  should  the  enemy  gain  ground,  and  the  men  desert  them,  they  would  be  made  use  of  against  our 
selves.  I  conclude  that  bodies  that  are  easily  managed  are  preferable  to  those  which  are  unwieldy,  though  of 
superior  force." 


302  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

and  in  the  "  Surrender  of  Cornwallis  "  he  is  in  the  background  at  the  head  of 
the  artillery. 

From  his  residence  in  Warren  Street,  New  York  City,  he  was  followed  to 
the  grave  by  the  members  of  the  Cincinnati  Society,  honored  as  one  of  the 
braves  who  helped  to  secure  the  liberty  of  America.  He  was  elected  Vice- 
President  of  the  New  York  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  from  1804  to  1823. 

His  first  wife  was  Rebecca  Hodgdon,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons  and  one 
daughter  (Mrs.  John  P.  Schermerhorn).  His  second  wife  was  Lucretia,  the 
widow  of  Richardson  Sands,  and  daughter  of  Judge  John  Ledyard,  of  Hart 
ford,  Conn.,  by  whom  he  had  a  large  family  of  children.  His  name  appears 
on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

HORATIO  GATES  STEVENS,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1824. 
Born  in  Stamford,  Conn.,  on  the  ipth  of  September,  1778.  Married  Eliza 
Rhinelander  of  New  York,  and  died  in  that  city  on  the  i6th  of  June,  1873. 
He  was  elected  Vice-President  from  1848  to  1854. 

JOHN  RHINELANDER  STEVENS,  his  grandson,  eldest  son  of  the 
last,  was  admitted  in  1874,  and  elected  a  member  of  the  Standing  Committee 
in  1886. 

JAMES     STEWART 

Captain  ^th  New  York  Regiment. 

He  was  a  resident  of  New  York  City,  and  appears  to  have  been  engaged  in 
recruiting  for  the  Northern  Department,  by  a  letter  to  John  Jay,  in  the  State 
Records,  from  Colonel  James  Livingston,  dated  New  York,  24th  of  August, 
1776: 

"  DEAR  SIR,  I  am  now  informed  by  Captain  Wright,  he  can  raise  a  Company  of  Men  in 
this  Town  and  suburbs.  Should  take  it  as  a  particular  favor,  you'd  mention  the  matter  to  the 
Gentlemen  of  the  Provincial  Congress  and  if  approved  of,  beg  you'l  furnish  him  with  money  for 
that  purpose.  He  is  a  good  recruiting  officer,  and  believes  he'l  soon  raise  his  company,  I  shall 
settle  the  matter  respecting  the  Rank  of  the  officer,  with  General  Schuyler,  agreeable  to  orders 
from  Congress.  As  soon  as  these  two  companies,  Wright's  and  Stewart's,  are  filled,  General 
Washington  will  order  them  to  the  Northward,  where  I  propose  going-'to-morrow  or  next  day  at 
furtherest,  if  not  wanted  here.  The  enemy  are  at  Flatbush,  their  numbers  not  known,  though,  we 
every  moment  expect  an  attack.  I  shall  wait  your  answer  this  evening,  and  am  with  Respect, 
Yours,  JAS.  LIVINGSTON." 

Appointed  Captain  of  the  5th  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Lewis  Du  Bois 
— on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776.  By  the  act  of  Congress  he  was  deranged  in 
January,  1781,  after  serving  his  country  faithfully  for  five  years.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


THE    SOCIETV    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  303 

EBENEZER     STOKER 

Lieutenant  zd  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

Born  at  Wells,  Me  ,  on  the  pth  of  July,  1758.  Died  on  the  2oth  of  January, 
1846,  at  Gorham,  Me. 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Society,  but  in  1827  met 
with  the  New  York,  and  signed  its  roll  as  Lieutenant  and  Quartermaster  of  the 
2d  Massachusetts  Regiment.  His  father,  John  Storer,  married  Mary,  the  sister 
of  Governor  John  Langdon,  of  New  Hampshire. 

He  enlisted  in  Phinney's  Regiment,  on  the  i7th  of  April,  1776,  as  a  Corporal, 
and  was  promoted,  on  the  ist  of  August  following,  to  be  a  Sergeant.  Appointed 
Ensign,  in  Samuel  Brewer's  Regiment,  on  the  i3th  of  November,  1776,  and 
promoted  to  Lieutenant,  in  Sprout's  Regiment,  on  the  5th  of  July,  1779,  and 
served  as  its  Paymaster  and  Clothier  until  mustered  out  of  the  service  in  1783. 

He  was  in  the  battles  of  Long  Island,  White  Plains,  Trenton,  Saratoga  and 
Monmouth. 

After  the  war  he  settled  in  Portland,  Me  ;  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits, 
until  removing  to  New  York,  where  he  died  a  recipient  of  the  benefits  of  the 
Order.  He  married  twice  and  left  three  sons.  His  name  appears  on  the 
Half-Pay  Roll. 

WILLIAM     STRACHAN 

Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  2d  Regiment,  Continental  Corps  of 
Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's — on  the  ist  of  February,  1777;  Commissary  to  the 
Brigade  on  the  i5th  of  May,  1779;  promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  in  his  regiment 
on  the  i4th  of  April,  1781,  and  assigned,  on  the  29th  of  June,  1781,  to  Captain 
Joseph  Thomas'  Company. 

Honorably  discharged,  with  a  portion  of  his  regiment,  on  the  3d  of  Novem 
ber,  1783.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 

WILLIAM  STRACHAN,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1812. 

WILLIAM     STUART 

• 

Lieutenant,  Hazen  s  Regiment. 
Died  on  the  5th  of  February,  1831. 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  Society,  but  was  trans 
ferred,  upon  his  removal  to  New  York,  in  1826. 


304  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  and  Adjutant  of  the  2d  Regiment,  Canadian 
Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Moses  Hazen — in  February,  1777. 

In  the  Battle  of  Brandywine  he  was  wounded.  Honorably  discharged  the 
service,  with  his  regiment,  on  the  3d  of  November,  1783. 

He  married  Elizabeth  Clinton,  by  whom  he  had  three  sons  and  three 
daughters.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

WILLIAM  STUART,  his  eldest  surviving  son,  was  admitted  as  his  suc 
cessor  by  the  New  York  State  Society  in  1854.  He  married  Elizabeth  Backus, 
and  died  on  the  2oth  of  June,  1878,  at  his  residence  at  Binghamton,  N.  Y., 
without  issue. 


CALEB   SWAN 

Ensign  8tA  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

Born  in  Maine  on  the  2d  of  July,  1758.  Died  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  on  the 
2oth  of  November,  1809. 

He  was  originally  enrolled  as  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Society,  hav 
ing  signed  the  Institution,  with  his  regiment,  at  New  Windsor,  but,  being 
stationed  at  West  Point  in  1783,  he  met  with  and  signed  the  Roll  of  the  New 
York  Society  at  the  time  of  its  organization. 

He  enlisted  in  the  Massachusetts  Line  in  1777,  serving  as  Corporal  and 
Sergeant  successively.  Promoted  to  be  Ensign  in  the  qth  Massachusetts  Regi 
ment — Colonel  James  Wesson's — on  the  26th  of  November,  1779.  Transferred 
to  the  8th  Regiment,  Massachusetts  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Michael 
Jackson's — on  the  ist  of  January,  1783.  On  the  disbandment  of  the  army, 
after  the  war,  he  was  in  Colonel  Henry  Jackson's  Regiment,  and  stationed  at 
West  Point,  until  his  regiment  was  disbanded,  on  the  2oth  of  June,  1784. 

He  entered  the  "  Pay  Office  "  of  the  United  States  as  an  assistant  to  Pay 
master-General  ]Q\U\  Pierce,  on  the  ist  of  January,  1785.  Was  transferred  to 
the  War  Department,  under  General  Knox,  on  the  loth  of  April,  1789,  and 
appointed  Paymaster  in  the  United  States  Army,  with  the  rank  of  Major,  on 
the  8th  of  May,  1792,  but  resigned  on  account  of  his  health,  on  the  3oth  of 
June,  1808. 

He  served  in  the  Battles  of  Monmouth,  Springfield  and  at  Yorktown,  with 
the  Light  Infantry  under  La  Fayette. 

In  1798  he  published  "An  Account  of  the  Northwestern  Lakes  of  America." 

He  married,  on  the  i8th  of  August,  1800,  Maria  Henrietta,  the  daughter  of 
•John  Abert,  of  Frederickstown,  Me.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  305 

BERNARDUS  SWARTWOUT 

Ensign  zd  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  in  1824  in  Westchester  County,  N.  Y. 

Appointed  Ensign  in  the  2d  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's 
— on  the  ist  of  September,  1778,  and  served  until  discharged,  with  his  regi 
ment  in  1782.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

CORNELIUS   SWARTWOUT 

Captain- Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

He  was  a  resident  of  New  York  City,  and  enlisted  in  Captain  Sebastian 
Bauman's  Company  of  New  York  Artillery,  on  the  i6th  of  April,  1776,  which 
was  then  attached  to  Colonel  Henry  Knox's  Regiment. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  of  his  company  on  the  ist  of  July,  1776,  and 
promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  of  the  same,  on  the  ist  of  January,  1777,  when  his 
company  was  transferred  to  the  2d  Regiment,  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery— 
Colonel  -Lamb's — and  the  remainder  of  his  regiment  discharged,  by  expiration 
of  enlistment.  Promoted  to  be  Captain- Lieutenant  of  his  regiment,  on  the  2d 
of  September,  1778,  and  was  in  Captain  Andrew  Mocdie's  Company,  until  the 
29th  of  June,  1781,  when  he  was  transferred  to  that  of  Captain  Thomas  T. 
Bliss. 

He  was  taken  prisoner  in  1779,  and  exchanged  on  the  i7th  of  December, 
1780.  Honorably  discharged  the  service,  with  a  portion  of  his  regiment,  on 
the  3d  of  November,  1783.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


CALEB   SWEET 

Surgeon    \st  New    York   Regiment. 

Appointed  Surgeons  Mate  of  the  ist  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van 
Schaick's — on  the  ist  of  May,  1777,  and  promoted  to  be  Surgeon  of  the  same 
on  the  xoth  of  October,  1779,  and  served  until  the  end  of  the  war. 

He  married  Garritje  Nieukirk,  by  whom  he  had  six  sons  and  three  daughters. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


306  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

GEORGE  SYTEZ 

Captain    \st  New    York    Regiment. 

Died  on  the  Susquehanna  in  1819. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  2d  New  York  Regiment,  Continental 
Infantry — ColonelNzn.  Schaick's — in  1775,  and  went  with  it  through  the  Canada 
Campaign,  but  does  not  appear  to  have  been  included  in  the  consolidation  of 
the  Line  at  Quebec,  made  by  Brigadier-General  David  Wooster,  on  the  isth  of 
April,  1776,  who  was  then  in  command  after  the  death  of  Montgomery.  Hav 
ing  been  mentioned  in  a  report  of  General  Schuyler's  "  as  a  very  good  Adjutant" 
he  was  appointed  Lieutenant  and  Adjutant  of  the  3d  New  York  Regiment— 
Colonel  Gansevoort's — on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776.  Omitted  as  Adjutant 
on  the  roster,  May,  1778. 

Promoted  Captain  on  the  7th  of  January,  1780,  and  transferred  to  the  ist 
New  York  Regiment,  where  he  served  until  mustered  out.  His  name  appears 
on  the  Half- Pay  Roll  as  Major. 


SILAS   TALBOT 

Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Captain  United  States  Navy. 

Born  in  Rhode  Island  on  the  nth  of  January,  1751.  Died  on  the  3oth  of 
June,  1813,  in  New  York  City. 

In  accordance  with  a  resolution  passed  by  the  New  York  State  Society  of 
the  Cincinnati,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1795*,  ^e  was  admitted  to  membership  upon 
condition  of  his  depositing  one  month's  pay  in  the  fund,  and  subscribing  his 
name  to  the  Institution,  but  the  record  shows  that  he  did  not  subscribe  his 
name  to  the  Roll  until  1808. 

At  the  outbreaking  of  the  Revolution  he  entered  the  service  in  a  Conti 
nental  Rhode  Island  regiment  as  a  Captain,  and  served  as  such  at  the  Siege  of 
Boston.  In  1776  he  accompanied  the  army  to  New  York,  where,  for  services 
rendered  in  skillful  operations  against  the  vessels  of  the^  British,  in  the  harbor, 
he  was  commissioned  Major.  In  November,  1777,  at  Fort  Mifflin,  although 
wounded,  he  continued  in  the  action  until  it  was  evacuated.  In  1778  he  is 
found  again  in  Rhode  Island,  assisting  General  Sullivan  in  the  transportation 
of  the  troops,  and  in  October  of  that  year  captured  the  "  Pigot,"  a  floating 
battery  of  22  guns,  belonging  to  the  enemy,  while  at  anchor  in  the  roadstead 


*  See  ante,  page  97. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  307 

of  Newport  Harbor.  Having  overhauled  and  equipped  her,  and  with  the 
"  Argo,"  a  sloop-of-war  of  10  guns,  he  cruised  off  the  New  England  coast, 
capturing  the  British  ships  "Lively,"  "King  George"  and  "Dragon."  He 
was  commissioned  by  Congress  a  Lieutenant-Colonel  on  the  i4th  of  November, 
1778,  and  on  the  i7th  of  September,  1779,  a  Captain  in  the  Navy. 

Subsequently,  in  1780,  his  flag-ship  was  captured,  and  he  taken  prisoner  and 
confined  in  the  Jersey  prison  ship,  until  sent  to  England,  where  he  remained 
until  exchanged  in  December,  1781. 

After  the  war  he  purchased  the  estate  of  Sir  William  Johnson  on  the 
Mohawk,  where  he  was  elected  for  several  terms  to  the  New  York  Legislature, 
and  to  Congress  in  1793. 

When  the  Government  reorganized  the  Navy,  in  1794,  he  was  ordered  to 
superintend  the  construction  of  that  famous  frigate  the  "  Constitution,"  or  as 
she  was  called  "Old  Ironsides,"  in  which,  becoming  his  flag-ship  in  1799,  he 
cruised  to  and  around  the  West  Indies. 

In  September,  1801,  he  resigned  from  the  service,  and  retired  to  domestic 
life,  living  in  New  York  City  until  his  decease,  when  he  was  buried  in  Trinity 
Church-yard. 

He  married,  first,  Anna,  the  daughter  of  Colonel  Barzillai  Richmond,  of  Pro 
vidence,  R.  I.,  by  whom  he. had  a  large  family  of  children.  By  his  two  other 
wives,  Rebecca  Morris,  and  Eliza,  the  widow  Pintard,  he  left  no  issue.  His 
eldest  son,  Cyrus,  died,  leaving  only  female  issue. 

WILLIAM  RICHMOND  TALBOT,  his  eldest  great  grandson,  in  the 
direct  male  line,  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society  in  the  succession 
on  the  4th  of  July,  1881. 


SAMUEL    TALLMADGE 

Lieutenant  2d  New  York  Regiment. 

Residing  at  Brookhaven,  Suffolk  County,  L.  I.,  he  became  an  Associator, 
signing  on  the  8th  of  June,  1775. 

He  was  commissioned  Sergeant  in  Sackett's  Company  of  the  4th  New  York 
Regiment,  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776;  promoted  to  be  Ensign  on  the  ist 
of  March,  1779;  Adjutant  on  the  nth  of  April,  1780,  and  appointed  Lieutenant 
in  the  same  on  the  27th  of  October,  1781.  Transferred  subsequently  to  the 
2d  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's — with  which  he  served  until 
mustered  out.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


308  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

WILLIAM    TAPP 

Lieutenant   $d  New    York  Regiment. 

Born  in  London,  England,  on  the  22(1  of  December,  1750.  Died  in  1796 
in  New  York  City. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  came  to  America,  and  enlisted  when  the  Revolution 
broke  out.  Appointed  Ensign,  on  the  24th  of  February,  1775,  recruiting  the 
Fifth  Company  of  the  ist  New  York  Continental  Regiment — Colonel  McDou- 
gall's — and  promoted,  on  the  T3th  of  June  following,  to  Second  Lieutenant,  and 
on  the  5th  of  July  of  the  same  year  Quartermaster. 

In  the  Canada  Campaign  he  was  in  Colonel  Nicholson's  Regiment,  and  by 
an  order  of  General  Wooster,  then  commanding  the  Continental  forces  before 
Quebec,  dated  i5th  of  April,  1776,  he  appears  to  have  been  acting  as  Second 
Lieutenant. 

In  the  list  of  the  four  battalions  arranged  by  the  committee  he  is  named  as 
the  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  Second  Company  of  the  2d  Battalion — Colonel  Van 
Cortlandt's.  Promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  of  De  Witt's  Company,  3d  New  York 
Regiment,  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776. 

It  is  recorded  in  the  minutes  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  of  the 
Continental  Line  in  1776,  that  "  he  was  a  good  officer  and  fit  for  a  second 
lieutenant." 

In  1777  he  married,  at  Fishkill,  Mary  Smith,*  of  Jamaica,  L.  L,  a  great- 
granddaughter  of  Jonathan  Townsend,  of  Oyster  Bay.  When  St.  Leger  laid 
siege  to  Fort  Schuyler,  having  accompanied  her  husband  there,  she  rendered 
important  service  to  the  garrison,  where  she  was  delivered  of  her  first-born,  a 
son,  who,  while  a  youth,  was  afterwards  lost  at  sea. 

After  serving  four  years  and  eight  months,  he  resigned,  on  the  2oth  of 
March,  1780,  and  settled  in  New  York  City,  where  he  became  a  bookkeeper  in 
the  Bank  of  New  York,  the  first  bank  of  that  city,  organized  in  1784  by  General 
Hamilton,  with  General  McDougall  its  first  president.  His  name  appears,  in 
the  first  New  York  City  Directory,  published  in  1786,  as  an  accountant. 
He  was  buried  in  Trinity  Church-yard.  His  name  Appears  on  the  Half- 
Pay  Roll. 

EDWARD  WILLIAM  TAPP,  his  eldest  grandson,  eldest  son  of  his  second 
son,  Edward  Tapp,  was  admitted  in  1858.  He  served  on  the  Standing  Com 
mittee,  and  for  many  years  acted  as  Assistant  Treasurer. 


*  She  for  many  yeats  received  aid  from  the  Society's  fund. 


EDWARD    WILLIAM    TAPP. 

December   1 0,    1822  -  February  3,    1888. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  309 

PETER  TAULMAN 

Captain  Sappers  and  Miners. 

Born  in  1765.     Died  on  the  i6th  of  December,  1835 

His  first  military  service  appears  to  have  been  as  a  non-commissioned 
officer  in  the  ist  New  York  Battalion— Colonel  John  Lasher — organized  on  the 
1 4th  of  September,  1776,  and  composed  of  the  several  companies  of  troop 
known  as  the  "Prussian  Blues,"  "  Swego  Rangers,"  "Rangers,"  "  Fusileers," 
"  Hearts  of  Oak,"  "  Grenadiers,"  "  Light  Infantry,"  "  Sportsmen,"  "  German 
Fusileers,"  "Light  Horse,"  and  "Artillery." 

In  1776  he  joined  the  New  York  Continental  Artillery  as  a  Sergeant  in 
Colonel  Lamb's  New  York  Artillery,  and  was  a  valuable  officer,  exhibiting  zeal 
and  courage,  particularly  in  the  eventful  campaign  of  1777,  and  at  Monmouth, 
where  he  was  wounded. 

He  served  as  Adjutant  of  Colonel  Oliver  Spencer's  (additional)  Regiment  of 
New  York  and  New  Jersey,  Continental  Infantry,  and  was  in  General  Sullivan's 
Expedition  in  1779.  Upon  the  organization  of  the  Corps  of  Sappers  and 
Miners  he  was  appointed  a  Lieutenant  in  it,  and  subsequently  its  Captain- 
Lieutenant.  He  also  participated  in  the  final  campaign  which  substantially 
ended  the  war,  the  surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown. 

After  the  war  he  represented  Orange  County  in  the  New  York  State  Legis 
latures  of  1787-8.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

PETER  HARMANUS  TAULMAN,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1843, 
and  died  on  the  2oth  of  February,  1874,  seventy-six  years  of  age. 

WILLIAM  WALLACE  TAULMAN,  his  grandson,  eldest  son  of  the  last, 
was  admitted  in  1876. 


ADAM  TEN  BROECK 

Ensign  \st  New  York  Regiment. 

Appointed  Ensign  of  the  Eighth  Company  of  the  ist  New  York  Regiment 
—Colonel  Van  Schaick's— on  the  zgth  of  June,  1781,  and  continued  in  the 
service  until  mustered  out. 


3>0  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

JOHN   C.   TEN  BROECK 

Captain  ist  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  on  the  loth  of  August,  1835,  in  Columbia  County,  N.  Y. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant,  in  the  ist  New  York  Regiment,  on  the  ist  of 
March,  17/6.  Arranged  by  the  Committee  of  Convention,  on  the  2 ist  of 
November,  1776,  as  Lieutenant  of  McKean's  Company  of  the  ist  New  York 
Regiment.  Promoted  to  be  Captain  of  the  Eighth  Company  of  the  same  on 
the  5th  of  April,  1781,  and  served  as  such  until  mustered  out. 

He  left  three  daughters  surviving  him — Maria,  Mrs.  Joseph  Ketchum  ; 
Anna,  Mrs.  Thomas  Hillhouse,  and  Catharine,  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Maurice 
D  wight.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half -Pay  Roll. 

WILLIAM  SWETLAND  KETCHUM,  his  eldest  great-grandson,  was 
admitted  to  the  succession  in  1886. 


ALEXANDER  THOMPSON 

Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Born  in  1759.     Died  at  West  Point  on  the  28th  of  September,  1809. 

He  was  Commissary  of  Military  Stores  in  1778.  Appointed,  on  the  3 ist  of 
May,  1779,  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  2d  Regiment,  Continental  Corps  of  Artil 
lery — Colonel  Lamb's — and  was  in  Captain  John  Doughty's  Company.  Sub 
sequently  at  West  Point,  by  Artillery  Brigade  orders,  issued  on  the  7th  of 
November,  1780,  he  was  its  Adjutant,  and  served  as  such  until  mustered 
out. 

After  the  war  he  was  appointed  Captain-Lieutenant  of  Sebastian  Bau man's 
New  York  Militia  Regiment  of  Artillery,  on  the  4th  of  October.  1786,  and 
promoted  to  be  Captain  on  the  ist  of  October,  1787,  and  Major  on  the  gth  of 
October,  1793. 

Appointed  Captain  in  the  ist  Regiment,  United  States  Artillery,  on  the  2d 
of  June,  1794,  and  served  until  honorably  discharged  the  service  on  the  ist  of 
June,  1802,  when  he  was  appointed  Military  Storekeeper  at  West  Point,  which 
office  he  held  until  his  decease. 

He  married  Amelia  de  Hart,*  of  Morristown,  N.  J.,  by  whom  he  had  a 
large  family  of  children.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

*  She  for  many  years  received  aid  from  the  Society. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  311 

ALEXANDER  BALDWIN  THOMPSON,  his  eldest  grandson,  was 
admitted  in  1842,  and  served  as  Secretary  from  1855  until  his  decease,  on  the 
8th  of  May,  1859,  at  47  years  of  age. 

ALEXANDER  RAMSAY  THOMPSON,  his  great  grandson,  eldest  sur 
viving  son  of  the  last,  was  elected  to  membership  in  1876. 

HENRY  TIEBOUT 

Captain     \st     New     York     Regiment. 

Died  in  February,  1826. 

Appointed  Second  Lieutenant — Colonel  John  Lasher's  Regiment  of  New 
York  Volunteers — on  the  i4th  of  September,  1775. 

On  the  2ist  of  September,  1775,  the  Committee  of  Safety  were  petitioned 
as  follows  by  the  officers  of  the  Battalion,  the  officers  belonging  to  the  com 
panies  of  Artillery,  Light  Horse,  Hussars  and  sundry  officers  belonging  to  the 
different  Beats  in  the  City  of  New  York  : 

"  That  in  the  present  Critical  Situation  of  the  Publick  affairs  of  the  Colonies  with  the 
Mother  Country, — They  conceive  it  to  be  a  matter  of  the  utmost  consequence  to  the  Liberties  of 
America,  that  every  member  of  the  community  capable  of  bearing  arms  should  acquaint  himself 
with  Military  Discipline,  in  order  (if  possible)  to  avert  the  distresses  which  are  now  hanging  over 
them.  And  being  convinced  that  the  Safety  of  a  Nation  would  be  longer  preserved  by  every 
Citizen  being  a  Soldier,  than  by  particular  persons  solicited  for  that  purpose.  They  proceed  to 
critizize  a  Regulation,  fixing  times  of  assembling  the  Beats  as  too  far  distant  from  each  other, 
and  ask  that  it  be  weekly,  for  the  three  months  ensuing,  with  a  monthly  field  day  for  each 
Battalion,  as  necessary  to  effectually  answer  the  intention  of  thjir  being  embodied:  other  ways 
they  fear  it  will  be  in  a  great  measure  defeated." 

Amongst  the  sixty-three  signatures,  headed  by  Coljnel  Lasher,  were  those 
of  Major  Sebastian  Bauman,  Captain  Henry  Tiebout  and  Lieutenant  Francis 
Lewis,  Jr. 

At  a  meeting  of  officers  held  on  the  2pth  of  January,  1776,  the  question 
was  submitted — 

"  Whether  the  officers  present  are  willing,  that  the  Battalion  to  which  they  belong,  engage 
as  a  Battalion  in  the  cause  of  this  country,  on  the  terms  and  conditions  offered  by  the  Committee 
of  Safety  for  the  Province  of  New  York,  in  answer,  to  certain  questions  proposed  to  them  by  a 
committee  of  officers  from  the  said  meeting." 

Thirty  votes  were"  equally  divided.  Bauman  and  Tiebout  voting  with  the 
Colonel,  carried  it  in  the  affirmative. 

Promoted  to  be  Captain  of  the  3d  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Gansevoort's 
— on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  and  subsequently  transferred  to  the  ist  New 
York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Schaick's — serving  until  mustered  out.  His 
name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


312  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

THOMAS  TILLOTSON 

Surgeon    General  of  the    Northern    Department. 

Born  in  1751.     Died  on  the  5th  of  May,  1832. 

At  the  time  of  his  decease  the  Society  issued  the  following  General  Order  : 

''  NEW  YORK,  May  nth,  1832. — The  acting  President,  with  deep  regret,  announces  to  the 
member  of  the  Society,  the  death  of  another  of  their  venerable  compatriots  and  friends,  Dr. 
Thomas  Tillotson.  He  died  at  his  country  seat  near  Rhinebeck,  Dutchess  County,  on  Sunday 
last,  in  the  8ist  year  of  his  age. 

' '  Dr.  Tillotson  was  an  able  and  zealous  advocate  of  the  American  Revolution  ;  highly 
gifted  by  nature  and  improved  by  education,  he  devoted  his  talents  and  himself  to  the  promotion 
of  our  National  Independence.  He  was  appointed  by  Congress,  Physician  and  Surgeon- General 
of  the  Northern  Hospital  Department  of  the  Army,  and  served  in  that  capacity  until  the  close  of 
the  Revolutionary  War.  After  the  peace  of  1783,  he  was  several  times  elected  to  the  Legisla 
ture,  and  was  in  the  year  1801,  and  again  in  1808,  appointed  Secretary  of  this  State.  Always  of 
a  delicate  constitution,  he  was,  in  1808,  compelled  to  decline  public  employment,  and  passed  the 
remainder  of  his  life  in  the  bosom  of  his  family.  He  enjoyed  (to  him  and  to  us)  the  heartfelt 
satisfaction,  of  living  to  see  the  United  States  prosparous  and  happy,  beyond  his  most  sanguine 
expectations. 

"  The  members  of  the  Society  are  requested  to  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty 
days,  in  memory  of  their  deceased  companion,  by  order  of  Major-General. 

"  CHARLES  GRAHAM,  Secretary,  MORGAN  LEWIS,  Acting  President" 

He  married  on  the  22d  of  February,  1779,  Margaret,  daughter  of  Judge 
Robert  R.  Livingston,  of  Clermont,  a  sister  of  Colonel  Henry  Beekman  Living 
ston. 

In  1790  he  purchased  lot  No.  i  in  the  Schuyler  patent,  at  Rhinebeck,  where 
he  lived,  and  in  the  same  year  represented  Dutchess  County  in  the  New  York 
State  Assembly  and  his  district  in  the  State  Senate  from  1790  until  1800,  when 
he  was  chosen  Secretary  of  State.  In  the  year  1801  he  was  elected  as  a  Repre 
sentative  to  Congress,  but  his  duties  at  Albany  requiring  his  presence,  he  did 
not  attend.  He  served  as  Secretary  of  State  until  1807,  when  he  retired  from 
public  life.  His  youngest  son  Howard  enlisted  in  the  Navy  during  the  War  of 
1812,  and  was  killed  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- 
Pay  Roll. 

^ 

ROBERT  LIVINGSTON  TILLOTSON,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in 
1871,  and  died  at  his  residence,  near  Rhinebeck,  in  1878. 

HOWARD  TILLOTSON,  eldest  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted  in  1879. 


THOMAS    TILLOTSON. 

SURGEON    GENERAL  OF  THE    NORTHERN    DEPARTMENT 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  313 

WILLIAM    TORREY* 

Lieutenant  Hazerfs  Regiment. 

Died  on  the  8th  of  October,  1831,  in  New  York  City. 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Society,  having  signed 
its  Roll  apparently  in  duplicate.  He  appears  to  have  met  with  the  New  York 
Society  on  the  4th  of  July,  1803,  and  from  1804  to  1814  was  chosen  a  member 
of  the  Standing  Committee.  At  his  decease  the  following  general  order  was 
issued  : 

"  NEW  YORK,  Oct.  isth,  1831. — The  Vice- President,  with  sincere  regret,  announces  to  the 
members  of  the  Society  that  William  Torrey,  an  aged  and  respected  member  of  the  Society,  has 
departed  this  life.  He  died,  on  the  8th  inst.,  of  a  lingering  and  painful  illness.  Mr.  Torrey  was, 
during  the  Revolutionary  War,  a  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  Hazen's  regiment,  and  in  all  his  conduct 
evinced  great  bravery  and  attention  to  his  duties  ;  and  although  from  his  situation,  he  had  not 
the  honor  of  any  particular  distinction,  yet  he  had  the  merit — and  great  it  was  in  those  times — of 
having  devoted  himself  to  his  country  s  cause,  and  by  his  services  promoted  the  great  event  of 
our  emancipation  from  a  foreign  dominion,  and  of  the  establishment  of  a  free  and  independent 
government  in  these  United  States. 

"  From  shortness  of  notice,  the  members  are  debarred  from  attending  the  funeral  of  their 
deceased  brother  and  companion,  yet  they  can  pay,  and  are  requested  to  pay  to  him,  the  usual 
honor  of  wearing  the  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days.  By  order  of 

"  CHARLES  GRAHAM,  Secretary.         Afajor-General  MORGAN  LEWIS,  Vice-President" 

His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll  as  Lieutenant  of  Massachusetts. 


ROBERT  TROUP 

Staff  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel,  Aide-de-Camp. 

Born  in  New  York  City  in  1756.     Died  there  on  the  i4th  of  January,  1832. 

When  the  war  broke  out  he  was  studying  law  in  the  office  of  John  Jay, 
having  graduated  at  Kings  College  in  1774.  He  entered  the  service  as  an 
Aide-de-Camp  to  Brigadier-General  Nathaniel  Woodhull,  with  rank  of  Lieu 
tenant.  In  the  Battle  of  Long  Island  he  was  taken  prisoner  on  the  27th  of 
August,  1776,  and  confined  in  the  Jersey  prison-ship  at  Wallabout  and  after 
ward  in  the  Prevost  Prison  in  New  York  City.  In  the  Spring  of  1777  he  was 
exchanged,  and  joined  the  American  Army  in  New  Jersey.  In  the  following 
August,  Gates  appointed  him  on  his  Staff  as  one  of  his  Aides,  with  the  rank  of 
Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  as  such  he  served  in  the  battles  of  Saratoga  and  the 
final  surrender  of  Burgoyne  at  Schuylerville,  on  the  i7th  of  October,  1777. 

*  Succession  in  the  Massachusetts  Society. 


314  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

In  February,  1778,  he  was  appointed  by  Congress,  Secretary  to  the  Board 
of  War,  which  sat  at  the  seat  of  Government  until  dissolved  in  the  following 
year,  when  he  retired  from  the  service  and  continued  his  study  of  the  law  with 
Judge  William  Patterson,  afterward  the  Governor  of  New  Jersey. 

After  peace  was  declared,  he  was  appointed  Judge  of  the  District  Court  of 
the  United  States  for  New  York,  and  in  1786  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
State  Legislature.  He  was  a  trustee  of  Columbia  College  from  1811  until 
1817.  In  1822  he  published  several  important  papers  as  to  the  policy  of  the 
State  with  the  canals,  and  also  in  regard  to  the  claims  respecting  Trinity 
Church.  For  many  years  he  resided  at  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  having  married 
Janet,  the  daughter  of  Peter  Goelet,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons,  who  died 
unmarried,  and  two  daughters,  Louisa,  and  Charlotte  (Mrs.  James  L.  Brinckcr- 
hoff}.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


JOHN  TRUMBULL 

Staff-  rank  of  Colonel  and  Deputy  Adjutant-General. 

Born  at  Lebanon,  Conn.,  on  the  6th  of  June,  1756.  Died  on  the  loth  of 
November,  1843,  at  15  Amity  Street,  New  York  City. 

He  was  the  youngest  son  of  the  first  Governor,  Jonathan  Trumbull,  and 
Faith  Robinson.  Entered  the  junior  class  at  Harvard  and  graduated  in  1773. 

The  artist  Copley  being  in  Boston,  Trumbull,  on  his  first  visit,  found  him 
entertaining  some  friends,  arrayed  in  a  crimson  velvet  suit  with  gold  buttons, 
which  so  impressed  him,  that  he  determined  to  take  up  the  palette  as  his  profes 
sion  in  life. 

The  pending  war  with  Great  Britain  now  attracting  his  attention,  he  joined 
the  ist  Connecticut,  Continental  Regiment,  then  stationed  at  Roxbury,  as  its 
Adjutant.  Here  his  talent  for  drawing  became  of  service,  furnishing  General 
Washington  with  a  sketch  of  the  enemy's  works  around  Boston,  which  he  had 
procured  by  cautiously  observing  the  British  lines,  noting  the  position  of  their 
guns,  and  a  deserter  coming  into  camp,  giving  him  the  information  necessary 
for  its  completion. 

In  August,  1775,  he  was  appointed  an  Aide-de-Camp  by  General  Washington, 
with  the  rank  of-  Major. 

Appointed  Deputy  Adjutant- General  of  the  Northern  Department,  on  the 
28th  of  June,  1776,  with  the  staff  rank  of  Colonel,  and  stationed  at  Ticonderoga, 
where  he  reconnoitered  Mount  Defiance — Sugar  Loaf  Hill — with  General 
Wayne,  who  reported  that  it  commanded  the  Post,  and,  suggesting  the  neces- 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  315 

sity  of  its  occupation.  Subsequently,  when  the  enemy  did  arrive,  St.  Clair 
found,  when  too  late,  that  they  could  not  only  observe  from  it  all  his  move 
ments,  but  actually  commenced  throwing  hot  shot  into  the  Post,  which  caused 
him  to  abandon  it  and  seek  safety  in  that  well-conducted  retreat  with  the 
troops  which  became  the  nucleus  of  the  army  that  shortly  afterward  prostrated 
the  British  power. 

The  enemy  having  landed  at  Newport,  R.  I.,  General  Arnold  was  ordered 
there  to  oppose  them  and  assume  command  of  the  militia,  Trumbull  to  accom 
pany  him  as  his  Adjutant-General,  with  headquarters  fixed  at  Providence,  and 
while  there  he  received  his  commission,  dated  from  September,  instead  of  the 
previous  June.  He  returned  it,  declining  its  acceptance,  unless  dated  from  the 
actual  time  of  service,  which  Congress  refusing,  resulted  in  his  retiring  from 
the  army  on  the  22d  of  February,  1777,  and  the  termination  of  his  brief  but 
honorable  military  career. 

After  a  visit  to  his  home  at  Lebanon,  he  went  to  Boston  to  study  the  works 
of  Copley.  In  May,  1780,  visiting  Paris  and  reaching  London  in  August,  he 
placed  himself  as  a  pupil  under  Benjamin  West,  until  November,  when  he 
heard  of  the  execution  of  Major  Andre.  Lodging  in  the  same  house  with  an 
American  officer,  for  whom  a  warrant  had  been  issued,  instructions  were  given 
to  arrest  Trumbull  at  the  same  time  and  secure  his  papers,  and  he  was  com 
mitted  to  prison.  Well  knowing  that  Trumbull  had  many  enemies,  West 
hastened  to  the  palace,  and  obtaining  an  audience,  explained  to  the  King 
that  the  presence  of  Colonel  Trumbull  in  London  was  merely  professional  as 
his  pupil,  George  III.  replied  : 

"  West,  I  have  known  you  long,  and  I  don't  know  that  I  ever  received  any  incorrect  infor 
mation  from  you  on  any  subject,  I  therefore  fully  believe  all  that  you  have  said  on  the  present 
occasion,  and  sincerely  regret  the  situation  of  the  young  man,  but  I  cannot  do  anything  to  assist 
him,  as  he  is  in  the  power  of  the  law,  and  I  cannot  interfere.  Are  his  parents  living  ?'' 

Mr.  West  answered  that  his  father  was. 

"  Then  I  sincerely  pity  him.  Go  immediately  to  Mr.  Trumbull  and  give  him  my  assurance 
that  in  the  worst  possible  event  of  the  law,  his  life  will  be  safe." 

While  in  prison  ho  copied  the  "St.  Jerome  of  Correggio,"  which  is  now  in 
the  Trumbull  Gallery*  The  British  Government,  after  eight  months,  admitted 
him  to  bail,  by  special  order  of  the  King,  on  condition  of  his  leaving  the  king 
dom  within  thirty  days,  his  sureties  being  West  and  Copley. 

Crossing  over  to   Amsterdam,  he    embarked   for   home,   where   he   did   not 
arrive  until  January,  1782. 

*  The  Trumbull  Gallery  he  presented  to  Yale  College,  in  consideration  of  an  annuity  of  $1,000  during  his  life, 
and  the  receipts  from  their  exhibition  after  his  decease  applied  to  the  education  of  students  in  need. 


316 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


He  revisited  England  in  1783,  renewing  his  studies  under  West,  and  painted 
in  1785,  "  Priam  carrying  back  to  his  palace  the  body  of  Hector." 

In  1786  he  began  painting  his  Scenes  of  the  Revolution,  the  "Battle 
of  Bunker  Hill"  and  the  "  Death  of  Montgomery"  He  painted  the  portrait 
of  Mr.  Adams  in  London,  and  Mr.  Jefferson  in  Paris,  and  the  "  Sortie  of  the 
Garrison  of  Gibraltar"  he  sold  to  Sir  Francis  Baring  for  five  hundred  guineas, 
a  copy  of  which  is  now  in  the  Boston  Athenreum. 

The  first  session  of  Congress,  to  be  held  in  New  York  City  in  December, 
1789,  called  him  home  to  paint  the  Signers  who  were  to  be  present  there. 

Washington  sat  for  him  at  Trenton  and  Princeton,  for  full-length  portraits 
for  the  Cities  of  New  York,  Charleston,  S.  C.,  and  tor  the  Connecticut  Cincin 
nati  Society,  which  was  subsequently  presented  by  them  to  Yale  College.  He 
also  painted  several  officers  of  the  Revolution,  traveling  from  New  Hampshire 
to  South  Carolina. 

In  1794  he  went  abroad  again  as  the  private  secretary  of  John  Jay,  then 
Envoy  Extraordinary  to  Great  Britain,  visited  Paris,  but  in  1796  returned  to 
England  upon  his  being  chosen  one  of  the  Commissioners  to  adjust  the 
disputed  points  of  the  treaty. 

In  June  1804  he  returned  home,  resuming  his  profession  in  New  York  City, 
but  the  embarrassment  of  commerce  so  affected  his  profession  he  was  again 
compelled  to  go  abroad. 

The  second  War  for  Independence  caused  his  return  to  New  York,  when, 
in  1816,  commissioned  by  the  United  States  Government,  he  painted  those 
four  historical  pictures — six  by  nine  feet — now  in  the  Rotunda  of  the  Capitol 
at  Washington  : 

"  Declaration  of  Independence,'' 

"  Capture  of  Burgoyne'at  Schuylerville," 

"  Surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown," 

"  Resignation  of  Washington  at  Annapolis." 

The  history  of  his  country  he  recorded  with  his  sword,  pen  and  pencil. 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  Connecticut  Society,  but  met  with  the 
New  York,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1804,  serving  on  the  Standing  Committee 
after  1820,  and  elected,  in  1833,  Vice-President.  He  presented  the  Society 
with  a  portrait  of  their  old  Sergeant  at-Arms — Bryan  Rossiter — now  in  the 
gallery  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society. 

The  following  general  order  was  issued  at  his  death  : 

"  NEW  YORK,  November  I3th,  1843. — The  President,  with  deep  regret,  announces  to  the 
members  of  the  Society  the  death  of  their  venerable  friend,  Colonel  John  Trumbull,  an  original 
member,  who  departed  this  life  on  Friday  morning,  the  tenth  inst.,  after  a  protracted  illness,  in 
the  eighty-seventh  year  of  his  age,  at  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Lentner,  15  Amity  Street.  Colonel 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  3.1  7 

Trumbull,  at  an  early  period  of  our  Revolutionary  struggle,  entered  the  army,  and  was  attached 
to  the  military  family  of  General  Washington,  whose  warm  regard  he  maintained  to  the  close  of 
the  war.  His  military  life  is  so  familiar  to  most  of  our  citizens  that  it  would  be  superfluous  to 
recapitulate,  suffice  it  to  say  that  in  all  his  capacities  he  was  a  distinguished  and  meritorious  man 
as  well  as  an  exemplary  Christian. 

"  The  Society  will  be  debarred  the  melancholy  satisfaction  of  attending  his  respected  remains 
to  the  grave,  they  having,  at  his  request,  been  removed  to  New  Haven,  but  they  will  wear  the 
usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days.  By  order  of 

•'  EDWARD  P.  MARCEL.LIX,  Secretary,       Major-General  MORGAN  LEWIS,  President." 

His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


THOMAS     TURNER 

Captain    ith  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Society.  Met  with  the 
New  York  after  1787,  until  he  removed  to  Charleston,  S.  C.,  where  he  met  with 
the  South  Carolina  Society  until  his  decease. 

On  the  8th  of  May,  1776,  he  entered  the  service  in  the  i4th  Continental 
Regiment — Colonel  Gamaliel  Bradford.  Appointed  Captain  in  Henry  Jackson's 
i6th  Regiment  on  the  24th  of  April,  1779.  Transferred  to  the  gth  and  subse 
quently  to  Brook's  Regiment,  the  yth  Massachusetts,  in  1783,  serving  with  it 
to  the  end  of  the  war.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


JOHN  FRANCIS  VACHER 

Surgeon  \th  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  in  France.     Died  on  the  4th  of  December,  1807,  at  New  York. 

He  graduated  as  a  physician,  at  the  College  of  Chirurgie  de  Montpellier,  in 
1769.  Came  to  America,  and  when  the  War  for  Independence  commenced, 
offered  his  services  to  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  at  Fishkill,  who,  on  the 
7th  of  February,  1777,  appointed  him  Surgeon  of  the  4th  Batallion,  at  that  time 
commanded  by  Colonel  Henry  B.  Livingston. 

In  the  next  Winter  he  took  the  following  oath  of  allegiance. 

"  I,  John  F.  Vacher,  Surgeon  4th  N.  Y.  Reg.,  do  acknowledge  the  United  States  oj 
Anurica  to  be  free,  Independent  and  Foreign  States,  and  declare  that  the  people  thereof,  owe  no 
allegience  or  obedience  to  George  the  Third,  A'ing  of  Great  Britain  :  and  I  renounce,  refuse  and 
abjure  any  allegience  or  obedience  to  him  ;  and  I  do  swear  that  I  will,  to  the  utmost  of  my 
power,  support,  maintain,  and  defend  the  said  United  States  against  the  said  George  the  Third, 


318  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

his  heirs  and  successors,  and  his  or  their  abbetors,  assistants  and  adherents,  and  will  serve  the 
United  States  in  the  office  of  Surgeon,  which  I  now  hold,  with  fidelity,  according  to  the  best  of 
my  skill  and  understanding,  JOHN  F.  VAC  HER,  Surgeon. 

"  Sworn  before  me,  in  Camp  Valley  Forge, 

"  May  26th,  1778.  ENOCH  POOR,  B.  General." 

In  the  Indian  Campaign  of  1779  he  accompanied  General  Sullivan,  and  the 
following  is  taken  from  the  report  of  Dr.  Stephen  McCrea,  Surgeon  in  com 
mand  : 

"  Doctor  John  F.  Vacher  was  Surgeon  of  tfee  4th  New  York  Regiment,  and  such  was  the 
state  of  our  Hospital  that  I  employed  the  Doctor  to  do  the  duty  of  Physician  and  Surgeon  in  it 
under  my  immediate  command,  from  the  beginning  of  June  to  the  beginning  of  November." 

Brigadier-General  James  Clinton  certifies  he  served 

"  Until  the  Reduction  of  the  Army,  in  1781,  during  which  time  he  behaved  himself  as  a 
Gentleman,  and  attentive  to  his  duty  as  Surgeon,  and  that  he  applied  to  me  to  be  continued  in 
the  service,  the  two  Standing  Colonels  (Van  Schaick  and  Van  Cortlandt)  having  made  choice  of 
their  former  Surgeons,  by  that  means  left  no  vacancy  for  him." 

Under  the  Act  of  Congress  of  the  2ist  of  October,  1780,  he  was  deranged, 
after  serving  his  country  faithfully  for  five  years  in  her  time  of  need. 

He  became  a  naturalized  citizen  on  the  27th  of  July,  1785,  under  a  special 
act  of  the  New  York  State  Legislature,  passed  in  May,  1784.  The  Council  of 
Appointment,  over  which  Governor  George  Clinton  presided  in  1787,  appointed 
him  Surgeon  of  Colonel  Stoutenburgh's  Regiment  of  State  Troops. 

The  following  letter  to  him  from  {Baron}  Steuben  is  dated  March,  1791  : 

"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND.  The  sentiments  which  you  express  in  your  obliging  letter,  are  very 
flattering  to  me,  not  to  assure  you  of  my  great  thankfulness,  I  should  be  very  mortified  if  there 
was  an  instant,  that  you  could  have  any  doubt  of  my  attachment  and  esteem  for  you.  I  have  for 
a  long  time,  tried  not  to  familiarize  myself  with  the  foibles  and  passions  of  the  human  race.  I 
know  mine,  and  require  that  my  friends  should  look  upon  them  with  indulgence.  Justice 
demands  the  reciprocity.  Such  men  as  have  more  virtues  than  weakness,  are  estimible  beings  in 
my  eyes.  This  is  the  Religion  which  I  profess.  Can  you  after  this,  doubt  for  a  moment  my 
friendship  for  you. 

"  I  thank  you  for  your  charming  '  langedoicean  '  Song.  It  is  a  refound  treasure,  that  I  have 
lost  for  more  than  twenty-four  years.  I  thought  to  have  need  of  an  introduction,  but  my  memory 
was  more  fruitful  than  I  thought,  and  it  is  only  the  word  '  ousefas,'  and  that  'Anas,'  which  T  ask 
you  to  explain. 

"  Here  is  the  small  abridged  Dictionary  of  the  fable,  more  useful  to  the  son  of  Apollo,  than 
to  a  graduate  of  the  school  of  Mars.  I  beg  you  to  accept  it  as  an  offering  of  friendship,  from 
one  who  is  very  sincerely,  your  affectionate  friend  and  servant,  STEUBEN." 

He  resided  in  Fulton  Street,  New  York  City,  practising  his  profession,  until 
his  decease,  when  he  was  buried  in  St.  Paul's  Church-yard,  having  married 
Sarah,  the  daughter  of  Joseph  Potter,  of  Madison,  N.  J.  He  met  with  the 
New  Jersey  State  Society  on  the  4th  of  July,  1802. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  319 

His  only  son,  Francis,  died  unmarried,  his  three  daughters,  Sarah  (Mrs. 
Van  Vorst),  Eliza  (Mrs.  Francis  True),  and  Fannie  (Mrs.  Robert  Gilchrist), 
surviving  him.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 

JOHN  VAN  VORST,  his  eldest  grandson,  was  admitted  by  the  New  York 
State  Society  in  1849. 


PHILIP  VAN  CORTLANDT 

Colonel  2d  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  on  the  ist  of  September,  1749,  in  Stone  Street,  near  the  Battery,  in 
New  York  City.  Died  unmarried,  on  the  5th  of  November,  1831,  at  the  Manor 
House. 

He  was  the  eldest  son  of  Lieutenant-Governor  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt  and 
his  wife,  Johanna,  daughter  of  Gilbert  Livingston,  and  a  great  grandson  of 
Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt,  who  married  Gertrude,  the  daughter  of  Philip 
Pieterse  Van  Schuyler.  His  grandfather,  Philip  Van  Cortlandt,  upon  his 
decease,  entailed  the  Manor  to  his  eldest  male  descendant ;  but  his  eldest 
grandson,  Philip,  whose  father  sided  with  the  Crown,  became  a  Colonel  in  the 
British  service,  and  so  was  unable  to  substantiate  his  claim  after  the  war. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  was  placed  at  the  Coldenham  Academy,  under  the 
care  of  Professor  Adams,  until,  at  the  completion  of  his  studies,  when  he 
became  proficient  in  the  profession  of  a  land  surveyor.  Governor  Tryon  com 
missioned  him  Major  of  Colonel  James  Ver  Planck's  Regiment,  raised  on  the 
Manor,  before  the  Revolutionary  War  broke  out.  When  it  did,  he  threw  his 
commission  in  the  fire,  and,  notwithstanding  the  urgent  requests  of  his  family's 
loyal  relations,  took  issue  with  his  father  and  espoused  the  cause  of  the  oppo 
nents  of  the  Crown.  Governor  Tryon  and  his  wife  visited  the  Manor  House  in 
hopes  of  persuading  the  family  to  remain  loyal ;  but  finding  it  useless,  left,  . 
when  young  Philip  offered  his  services  to  and  was  recommended  by  the  Mili 
tary  Committee,  and  on  the  i8th  of  June,  1775,  was  commissioned  by  Congress 
Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  4th  Batallion  of  the  New  York  Continental  Infantry, 
marching  with  it  to  Ticonderoga.  Having  procured  a  leave  of  absence,  and 
meeting  Washington  at  the  house  of  his  relative  James  Van  Cortlandt,  in 
Westchester  County,  he  appointed  him  at  Kingsbridge  on  his  Staff. 

General  McDougall  wrote  to  the  Military  Committee  : 

"  As  Lieutenant  Colonel  Cortlandt  is  the  oldest  of  that  rank,  I  take  it  for  granted,  as  he  is  a 
young  gentleman  of  family  and  spirit,  he  will  be  appointed  to  the  command  of  my  old  regiment." 


320  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Washington  now  filled  up  a  commission  for  him  as  Colonel,  dated  the  3oth 
of  November,  1776,  assigning  him  to  the  command  of  the  2d  New  York  Regi 
ment,  in  place  of  Colonel  Ritzema.  He  reached  his  new  command  at  Trenton 
the  morning  after  the  battle,  when  it  was  ordered  to  Fishkill,  where  it  assisted 
in  the  protection  of  the  passes  of  the  Hudson,  until  ordered  to  the  relief  of 
Fort  Schuyler,  up  the  Mohawk  Valley.  When  St.  Leger  was  defeated,  it  was 
ordered  back,  and1  joined  General  Poor's  Brigade,  opposing  the  advance  of 
Burgoyne  in  Saratoga,  until  his  surrender,  on  the  i7th  of  October,  1777,  when 
it  moved  down  the  river  to  Kingston,  which  Sir  Henry  Clinton  had  burned, 
just  before  his  hasty  retreat  to  New  York,  and  joined  Washington  at  White 
Marsh,  going  into  Winter  quarters  at  Valley  Forge. 

At  the  request  of  Washington  he  remained  in  command  of  the  post  at 
Radner's  Meeting  House,  while  his  regiment,  in  pursuit  of  the  British  retreating 
from  Philadelphia,  was  engaged  without  him  in  the  action  at  Monmouth.  He 
rejoined  it  at  Poughkeepsie,  and  resumed'  the  command  during  the  Winter  in 
the  contonments  on  the  Hudson  at  New  Windsor.  In  the  Spring  of  the  next 
year,  1779,  his  regiment,  consisting  of  six  hundred  men,  was  ordered  to  join 
General  Sullivan  at  Fort  Penn.  Defeating  the  Indian  chief  Brant,  in  a 
skirmish  on  the  way,  he  reached  Wilkesbarre,  marching  thirty  miles  through 
the  Wilderness  in  thirty  days,  and  took  part"  in  the  defeat  and  total  rout  of 
Butler's  Tories  and  Brant's  Indians,  laying  their  country  waste  all  the  way  to 
Tioga.  He  then  brought  his  regiment  to  Morristown,  going  into  Winter 
quarters  there,  and  sitting  on  Arnold's  Court  Martial  at  Philadelphia  in  January. 

In  the  Spring  of  1780  he  brought  his  regiment  again  to  the  defence  of  the 
Hudson,  with  his  camp  at  West  Point,  when  he  was  selected  to  command  one 
of  the  regiments  of  light  infantry,  of  the  two  brigades  under  La  Fayette  contem 
plated  for  a  secret  expedition,  but  which  was  temporarily  abandoned.  La  Fayette 
then  went  to  Virginia,  joining  General  Greene  in  the  Southern  Campaign. 

On  the  2ist  of  October,  1780,  Congress  passed  the  act  consolidating  the 
regiments  of  the  different  States,  and  New  York's  Quota  was  reduced  to  two, 
as  follows  :  The  ist  and  3d  under  Colonel  Van  Schaick,  the  2d  4th,  5th  and 
what  was  left  of  Colonel  James  Livingston's,  and  the  New  York  portion  of 
Colonel  Spencer's  (additional)  Regiment,  under  Colonel  Van  Cortlandt,  taking 
effect  by  the  general  order  of  the  ist  of  January,  1781.  In  the  following  Fall 
he  was  ordered  by  Washington  to  proceed  with  his  regiment  as  the  rear  guard 
of  the  army,  on  the  way  to  Yorktown.  There  he  joined  La  Fayette  and 
Steuben,  and  during  the  siege  commanded  the  New  York  Brigade  in  the 
trenches  until  Cornwallis  surrendered,  when  he  took  charge  of  the  British 
prisoners  in  their  march  to  Fredericksburgh,  and  finally  went  into  Winter 
quarters  at  Pompton,  N.  J. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  321 

In  the  Summer  of  1782,  his  command  encamped  at  Ver  Planck's  Point, 
on  the  Hudson,  near  his  home,  and  in  the  following  Winter  went  into  huts 
at  New  Windsor.  He  was  present  there  at  the  meeting  called  by  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  to  consider  the  disaffection  that  had  arisen  among  the 
troops. 

Upon  the  disbandment  of  the  Army,  he  presented  the  colors  of  the  2d  New 
York  Regiment,  to  Gwernor  George  Clinton,  at  Poughkeepsie,  and  retired  to 
his  home. 

In  1783,  Congress  gave  him  the  rank  of  Brigadier -General for  his  services 
and  gallant  conduct  at  the  Siege  of  Yorktown.  He  served  as  a  member  in  the 
New  York  Assembly  and  State  Senate  for  several  sessions,  and  held  his  seat  in 
Congress  from  1793  to  1809. 

When  La  Fayette  visited  the  United  States  in  1824,  he  entertained  and 
accompanied  him  on  his  tour. 

For  many  years  he  served  as  Treasurer  of  the  New  York  State  Society  of 
the  Cincinnati. 

He  died  at  his  residence  in  the  eighty-second  year  of  his  age  ;  and  this 
great  and  distinguished  veteran's  remains  now  lie  mouldering  in  the  private 
burying-ground  of  the  family,  near  the  old  Manor  House,  overlooking  the  most 
picturesque  and  romantic  portion  of  the  Hudson. 

The  following  General  Order  was  issued  by  the  Society  on  the  9th  of  Novem 
ber,  1831  : 

"  The  Vice- President,  in  the  discharge  of  his  official  duty,  announces  to  the  members  of  the 
Society  that  their  venerable  and  respected  friend  and  companion,  General  Philip  Van  Cortlandt, 
departed  this  life,  at  his  residence  in  Westchester  County,  on  Saturday,  the  5th  inst  ,  in  the 
eighty-second  year  of  his  age.  Afflicting  as  this  dispensation  of  Providence  must  be  to  the 
members  of  the  Society,  with  whom  the  deceased  was  so  long  associated,  it  is  to  be  remembered 
that  he  died  full  of  years,  and  possessed,  to  the  last,  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  his  fellow 
citizens. 

"  G'enera/Van  Cortlandt  was,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  the  oldest  surviving  officer  of  his 
rank  in  the  New  York  Line  of  the  Continental  Army.  He  was  a  Major  of  the  Colonial  Militia 
previous  to  the  Revolution  ;  and  in  the  year  1775  he  was  commissioned  to  the  same  rank  in  the 
Revolutionary'  Army  ;  was  appointed  Lieutenant- Colonel  in  February,  1776,  and  Colonel  of  the 
2d  New  York  Regiment  in  the  month  of  November  of  the  same  year,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war 
he  was  commissioned  as  a  Brigadier-General.  He  was  in  the  Battle  of  Monmouth  Court-house, 
New  Jersey,  and  in  the  actions  of  Stillwater  and  Bemis'  Heights  in  September  and  October, 
1 777,  and  had  the  honor  to  be  present  at  the  surrender  of  the  British  armies,  commanded  by 
General  Burgoyne  and  Lord  Cornwaliis. 

"  General  Van  Cortlandt's  regiment  was,  upon  several  occasions,  complimented  for  its  disci 
pline  and  appearance  in  the  orders  of  the  Commander-in  Chief. 

"  In  the  year  1793  General  Van  Cortlandt  was  elected  a  member  of  Congress,  and  continued 
a  member  of  that  body  until  about  the  year  1809,  when  he  declined  public  employment,  and 
retired  to  his  farm,  near  Croton,  upon  the  North  River. 

"  The  members  of  the  Society  are  requested  to  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty 
days,  in  memory  of  their  deceased  friend.  MORGAN  LEWIS,  Vice-President. 

"CHARLES  GRAHAM,  Secretary." 


322  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

PIERRE  VAN  CORTLANDT,  Lieutenant-Governor,  his  brother,  was  in 
1832  admitted  in  the  succession.  He  married,  first,  Catherine  Clinton,  but  had 
no  issue  by  her,  and,  secondly,  Ann  Stevenson.  He  died  on  the  i3th  of  June, 
1848,  at  the  Manor  House  at  Croton  Landing. 

PIERRE  VAN  CORTLANDT,  his  nephew,  only  son  of  the  last,  was 
admitted  in  1853.  He  married  Catherine  Beck,  and  died  on  the  nth  of  July, 
1884,  at  the  Manor  House  at  Croton  Landing,  having  served  for  many  years  as 
one  of  the  Standing  Committee. 

JAMES  STEVENSON  VAN  CORTLANDT,  only  surviving  son  of  the 
last,  was  admitted  in  1885. 


BARTHOLOMEW  VANDERBURGH 

Ensign  2d  New  York  Regiment. 

Having  entered  the  service,  he  was,  on  the  ist  of  May,  1778,  appointed 
an  Ensign  in  the  5th  New  York  Regiment—  Colonel  Lewis  Du  Bois. 

After  the  consolidation  of  the  New  York  Line,  on  the  ist  of  January,  1781, 
he  appears  to  have  been  arranged  in  the  2d  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van 
Cortlandt's — and  serving  until  mustered  out  on  the  ist  of  January,  1782.  His 
name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll  as  Lieutenant. 


Captain  2ci  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  at  Troy,  N.  Y.,  in  1760.  Died  on  the  i2th  of  April,  1812,  at  Vin- 
cennes,  Ind.,  leaving  three  sons  and  six  daughters. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  enlisted  in  the  5th  New  York  Regiment,  and  after 
the  Continental  Establishment  of  the  Quota  for  the  State  of  New  York,  on  the 
2ist  of  November,  1776,  was  appointed  Lieutenant  of  Rosecrans'  Company  of 
the  5th  New  York  Regiment,  his  commission  having  been  signed  by  John  Jay, 
then  President  of  the  Continental  Congress,  at  Philadelphia,  and  under  the 
reorganization  it  appears  he  received  another,  dated  on  the  2oth  of  June,  1779, 
and  signed  by  John  Hancock. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  323 

Promoted  Captain  on  the  3oth  of  March,  1/80,  and  subsequently  transferred 
to  the  2d  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt — and  served  with  it 
until  mustered  out. 

Some  years  after  the  war  was  over,  he  settled  in  the  Territory  of  Indiana. 

The  following  is  from  the  Evansville  Enquirer : 

"  The  exact  time  of  his  coming  to  the  then  Territory  of  Indiana  is  not  known,  but  most 
probably  in  1788,  as  it  is  known  that  in  February,  1790,  he  was  married  in  Vincennes,  Knox 
County  (at  which  place  he  resided  until  his  death  in  1812),  to  Frances  Cornoyer,  the  daughter  of 
Pierre  Cornoyer,  one  of  the  most  respected  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  '  Post  Vincennes,'  then 
largely  engaged  in  the  Indian  trade.  His  wife  still  survives  him,  and  is  now  a  resident  of  Vin 
cennes.  In  1791  he  was  appointed  by  Arthur  Saint  Clair,  then  '  Commander-in-Chief  and 
Governor  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States  northwest  of  the  River  Ohio,'  Justice  of  the 
Peace  and  Judge  of  Probate  of  Knox  County.  In  1799  he  was  one  of  the  Legislative  Council  of 
the  Northwest  Territory,  which  held  its  session  at  Cincinnati,  and  was  elected  President  of  that 
body.  In  1800  he  was  appointed  Judge  of  the  Indian  Territory  by  President  Adams.  His 
circuit  comprehended  within  its  boundaries  what  now  constitute  the  four  States  of  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  and  during  his  term  he  actually  held  court  the  same  year  in 
three  of  the  above-named  States,  to  wit  :  at  Vincennes,  Indiana  ;  Kaskaski,  Illinois,  and  Detroit, 
Michigan.  All  these  places  being  embraced  in  his  Judicial  Circuit  as  Judge  of  the  Indian  Terri 
tory.  His  journeyings  were  on  horseback,  carrying  his  own  provisions,  through  a  wilderness 
occupied  solely  by  the  Indian  and  the  wild  beast  of  the  forest,  and  the  face  of  the  white  man 
unseen,  except  at  places  where  Court  was  held  and  their  immediate  vicinity,  and  even  there  the 
population  was  very  scarce.  Full  in  years  and  full  in  honors,  Judge  Vanderburgh  departed  this 
life  at  Vincennes.  April  12.  1812,  beloved  and  respected  both  in  public  and  private  life  by  all 
who  knew  him.  Vanderburgh  County  may  well  be  proud  of  her  lineage.'' 

One  of  his  granddaughters,  Cora  Le  Roy,  married  General  William  North 
Belknap,  Secretary  of  War,  in  1861.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay 
Roll. 


CORNELIUS   VAN    DYCK 

Lieutenant-Colonel  isf  New  York  Regiment. 

He  resided  at  Albany,  and  when  the   hostilities  commenced  between  the 
Colonies  and  the  Crown  joined  the  Continental  Army,  and  on  the  28th  of  June, 

1775,  was  appointed  a  Captain  in  the  2d  New  York  Regiment. 

Upon  the  Establishment    of  New  York's  Quota,  on  the  2ist  of  November, 

1776,  he  was  promoted  to  be  the  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  ist  New  York  Regi 
ment — ColonclVzn.  Schaick's — and  served  with  it  until  mustered  out  at  the  close 
of  the  war. 

In  1788  he  represented  Albany  County  in  the  New  York  State  Legislature. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


324  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

JOHN  VAN  DYK 

Captain- Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Born  in  New  York  City  in  1753.     Died  on  the  28th  of  February,  1840. 

Admitted  to  the  Society  in  1798.* 

When  the  British  ship-of-war  "Asia"  fired  on  the  City  of  New  York,  he 
assisted  in  removing  the  guns  from  the  Battery.  He  enlisted  in  the  ist 
Regiment  of  Minute  Men  or  Volunteer  Infantry — Colonel  John  Lasher's — on 
the  1 4th  of  September,  1775,  and  was  one  of  the  non-commissioned  officers 
of  it. 

Appointed  Lieutenant  of  Artillery,  by  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New  Jersey 
on  the  24th  of  March,  1776,  and  in  the  following  November,  he  was  commis 
sioned  a  First  Lieutenant  in  the  regular  service,  by  the  Continental  Congress. 
It  is  claimed  that  subsequently,  he  was  Captain- Lieutenant  in  Colonel  John 
Lamb's  2d  Regiment  of  Artillery,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  by  the  Act 
of  Congress,  attained  the  rank  of  Major. 

He  participated  in  the  Battles  of  Long  Island,  the  skirmish  along  the 
Harlem  Heights,  White  Plains,  Monmouth,  Trenton,  and  was  at  the  Surrender 
of  Lord  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown.  During  the  war,  on  a  voyage  for  his  health, 
he  was  captured  by  an  English  frigate,  and  underwent  the  horrors  and  suffer 
ings  of  a  confinement  in  the  Jersey  prison-ship. 

After  the  war  he  engaged  in  business  in  New  York  City,  until  appointed  a 
clerk  in  the  Custom  House,  which  office  he  retained  until  his  death. 

He  married  twice  ;  by  his  first  wife,  Sarah  C.  Clark,  he  left  no  male  issue. 
His  second  wife  was  Ann  Center,  by  whom  he  had  several  sons.t 

FRANCIS  VAN  DYK,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1842,  and  died  in 
1878  at  his  residence  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

JAMES  VAN  DYK,  his  grandson,  eldest  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted  in 
1880. 

*  At  the  Anniversary  Meeting,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1798,  a  certificate  was  produced  from  the  War  Office  stating 
that  Philip  Van  Cortlandt,  Esq.,  had  received  thirty-three  and  one  third-dollars,  being  for  one  month's  pay  of 
Captain-Lieutenant  John  Van  Dyke,  whereupon  Resolved,  that  on  Mr.  Van  Dyke's  signing  the  original  Institu 
tion  of  the  Cincinnati,  he  will  henceforward  be  considered  a  member  thereof. 

t  The  Society  cashed  his  note  for  two  hundred  dollars  in  1837,  which  he  failed  to  pay  before  his  decease. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  325 

RUDOLPH  VAN    HOEVENBARGH 

Lieutenant  2d  Neiv  York  Regiment. 

Died  in  1826. 

He  was  appointed  Ensign  of  the  4th  New  York  Regiment  on  the  2ist  of 
November,  1776,  and  promoted  to  be  Lieutenant  of  the  same  on  the  Qth  of 
January,  1778.  After  the  Consolidation  of  the  New  York  Line,  he  was 
arranged  in  the  2d  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's — serving 
with  it  until  mustered  out.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

DAVID  VAN    HORNE 

Captain  <\th  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

Born  in  1755.     Died  on  the  i2th  of  May,  1801. 

He  was  the  only  son  of  David  Van  Home,  a  resident  of  New  York,  and 
when  the  first  War  for  Independence  broke  out  entered  the  service,  and  was 
commissioned  a  Captain  in  Henry  Jackson's  Regiment. 

In  the  year  1788  he  married  Sarah  Coventry  Miller,  by  whom  he  had  only 
one  child,  Augusta,  the  wife  of  Dr.  Samuel  Floyd,  of  New  York  City.  On 
the  occasion  of  the  ceremonies  connected  with  the  death  of  Washington  at 
Albany,  on  Thursday,  the  pth  of  January,  1800,  he,  with  General  Schuyler, 
Colonel  Gansevoort,  Captains  John  C.  Ten  Broeck,  John  H.  Wendell  and 
Stephen  Lush,  were  the  pall-bearers  in  the  funeral  procession. 

He  held  the  office  of  Adjutant-General  of  the  State  of  New  York  until  the 
27th  of  January,  1801.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

DAVID  VAN  HORNE  FLOYD,  his  eldest  grandson,  was  admitted  in 
1842.  He  married  Elizabeth  F.  Kermit,  and  died  in  1878,  leaving  only  one 
child  surviving  him,  Sarah  (Mrs.  George  Vingut). 

JEREMIAH  VAN  RENSSELAER 

Lieutenant  and  Paymaster  \st  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  in  1740.     Died  on  the  22d  of  February,  1810,  at  Albany,  N.  Y. 

He  was  a  descendant  of  Kiliaen  Van  Rensselaer,  the  first  Patroon  of  the 
Manor  of  Rensselaerwyck  ;  was  the  second  son  of  Johannes  Van  Renssaelaer 
and  Gertrude  Van  Cortlandt,  and  a  brother  of  Catharine,  General  Schuyler's 


326  THK    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

wife.  After  graduating  in  1758,  at  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  he  married 
Judith  Bayard  in  1761,  by  whom  he  had  one  son,  John.  When  the  War  for 
Independence  broke  out  he  entered  the  service,  and  was,  on  the  28th  of  May, 
1776,  appointed  Ensign  in  Bleecker's  Company  of  the  3d  New  York  Regiment, 
and  Paymaster  on  the  following  2ist  of  November.  After  the  Consolidation 
he  was  arranged,  with  the  same  rank,  in  the  ist  New  York  Regiment — Colonel 
Van  Schaick's — and  subsequently  promoted  to  be  Lieutenant,  serving  until 
mustered  out  with  his  regiment. 

He  was  elected  in  1788  a  member  of  the  New  York  Assembly,  held  a  seat 
in  Congress,  from  1789  to  1791,  and  appointed  by  the  Legislature,  on  the  6th 
of  November,  1800,  one  of  the  Presidential  Electors,  and  on  the  28th  of  April, 
1801,  elected  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  State.  His  name  appears  on  the 
Half-Pay  Roll. 


NICHOLAS  VAN  RENSSELAER 

Captain  ist  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  at  Greenbush  in  1754.     Died  on  the  29th  of  March,  1848. 

He  was  admitted  by  the  Society  on  the  4th  of  July,  1826,  mine  pro  tune. 

He  was  a  descendant  of  Kiliaen  Van  Rensselaer,  the  first  Patroon  of  the 
Manor  of  Rensselaerwyck,  and  was  the  third  son  of  Kiliaen  Van  Rensselaer 
and  Ariantje  Schuyler.  His  grandfather,  Hendrick,  received  from  his  elder 
and  only  brother,  Kiliaen,  the  lower  Manor  of  Claverack  and  fifteen  hundred 
acres  of  the  upper  Manor  at  Greenbush,  including  the  island  in  the  Hudson 
River. 

When  the  Revolution  broke  out  he  enlisted  in  the  service,  and  was  appointed 
Second  Lieutenant  of  the  2d  Regiment,  New  York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel 
Van  Schaick's — on  the  28th  of  June,  1775,  and  was  with  General  Montgomery 
in  the  Canada  Campaign,  where,  at  the  storming  of  Quebec,  he  and  Colonel 
James  Livingston  were  within  a  few  feet  of  him  when  he  and  his  Aide-de-Camp, 
Captain  John  McPherson,  fell.  In  the  Continental  Establishment  of  the  New 
York  Quota  he  was,  on  the  2 ist  of  November,  1776,  appointed  First  Lieutenant 
of  Captain  Graham's  Company  of  the  ist  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van 
Schaick's— and  promoted  to  Captain  in  the  same  on  the  ist  of  September, 
1778,  serving  until  deranged,  in  1781,  by  the  Act  of  Congress. 

He  was  appointed  an  Aide  on  the  staff  of  General  Schuyler,  and  was  with 
St.  Clair  in  his  retreat  from  Ticonderoga,  disputing  the  advance  of  Burgoyne's 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  327 

Army  all  the  way  down  to  Stillwater  and  Bemis'  Heights.     After  the  surrender 
he  was  selected  to  convey  the  intelligence  to  the  terrified  citizens  of  Albany. 

Mrs.  Catherine  Van  Rensselaer  Bonney,  in  her  "  Historical  Gleanings," 
describes  the  scene  of  his  arrival  there  on  horseback,  as  follows  : 

"  Flying  through  the  city,  while  the  brave  officer  cried  aloud  the  cheering  words,  '  Burgoyne 
is  taken  and  we  are  victorious.'  The  scene  was  an  enthusiastic  one  ;  the  people  flocking  in 
throngs,  almost  drawing  him  from  his  horse's  back,  eager  to  hear  a  confirmation  of  the  glorious 
news  ;  it  diffused  joy  and  gladness  not  only  there,  but  throughout  the  Union.  In  Albany  the 
event  was  celebrated  with  much  display,  an  ox  was  roasted  whole,  for  the  occasion,  a  pole  passing 
through  it  and  resting  on  crutches,  served  as  a  spit,  while  a  pair  of  cart-wheels,  at  the  ends  of  the 
pole,  were  used  to  turn  it.  A  hole  was  dug  in  the  ground,  in  which,  beneath  the  ox,  a  fire  was 
made.  While  cooking,  several  pails  of  salt  water  were  applied  with  swabs,  to  keep  the  meat  from 
burning.  When  roasted  it  was  drawn  through  the  principal  streets,  and  the  patriotic  secured  a 
good  slice.  A  constant  roar  of  artillery  was  kept  up  during  the  day.  In  the  evening,  almost 
every  house  in  the  city  was  illuminated.  A  large  pyramid  of  pine  fagots,  in  the  centre  of  which 
stood  a  liberty  pole,  supporting  on  its  top  a  barrel  of  tar,  was  set  on  fire  on  Pinkster  Hill,  where 
now  stands  the  State  Capitol,  early  in  the  evening.  The  capture  of  Burgoyne  and  his  army 
inspired  Americans  with  confidence  as  to  their  final  triumph." 

When  the  remains  of  Montgomery  were  brought  down  from  Canada  in  July, 
1818,  he  was  one  of  the  pall-bearers  in  the  funeral  obsequies  at  Albany. 

The  following  letter  to  his  brother  Philip,  dated  from  Montreal,  November 
2ist,  1775,  is  interesting  : 

"  I  embrace  this  opportunity  to  inform  you,  that  I  am  in  good  health  and  hope  this  may  find 
you  and  your  family  the  same.  In  the  first  place,  I  must  give  you  joy  with  your  young  daughter. 
In  the  next  place,  I  will  inform  you  how  we  have  carried  our  siege  against  our  enemies.  We  lay 
at  St.  Johns  six  weeks  and  four  days  before  they  surrendered,  the  first  of  this  instant,  they  gave 
up,  the  1 3th  of  this  instant,  our  General  (Montgomery)  marched  in  this  Town  without  firing  a 
gun.  General  Carleton  ran  off  with  twelve  vessels,  well  loaded  with  provisions  and  ammunition, 
and  ran  down  about  forty  miles  below  this  place,  where  we  had  a  battery  of  eight  guns,  in  the 
very  narrowest  place  in  the  whole  River,  where  they  could  not  pats  without  being  taken. 

"  They  made  an  attempt  once  to  go  by,  but  they  received  such  hoot  fire  that  they  were  forced 
to  go  back  and  our  Royalty  followed  them  up  very  close  and  kept  firing  on  them,  till  they  sent  a 
flag  and  made  capitulation.  There  was  one  Schooner,  loaded  with  powder  that  they  threw  all 
overboard.  We  took  the  twelve  vessels,  and  the  Brigadier  General,  one  Lieutenant  Colonel,  three 
Majors,  five  Captains,  six  Lieutenants  and  one  hundred  and  thirteen  privates,  besides  the  Sailors, 
that  had  a  vast  sight  of  provisions  which  we  have  all  took.  The  officers  of  our  Battallion,  are  all 
resolved  to  stay  till  next  May  and  we  are  now  enlisting  our  men  over  again  to  stay  till  that  time, 
so  you  need  not  expect  me  home  till  then,  and  if  the  service  requires,  I  shall  stay  longer.  I  expect 
we  shall  within  three  days,  march  to  Quebec,  to  take  that.  The  General  is  going  off  to-morrow. 

"  I  shall  now  rest  and  remain  your  loving  brother, 

"NICHOLAS  VAN  RENSSELAER." 

In  1781  he  married  Elsie  Van  Buren,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons,  Kiliaen 
and  Cornelius,  and  two  daughters,  Magdelene  (Mrs.  Peter  Douw  Beeckman) 
and  Harriet  Schuyler  (Mrs.  A.  Herbert  Witbeck).  His  name  appears  on  the 
Half-Pay  Roll. 


328  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

GOOSE  VAN    SCHAICK 

Colonel  \st  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  at  Albany  on  the  5th  of  September,  1736.  Died  there  on  the  4th  of 
July,  1789. 

He  was  the  second  son  of  Sybrant  G.  Van  Schaick,  Mayor  of  Albany  from 
1756  to  1761.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  joined  the  expedition  against  Crown 
Point  as  a  Lieutenant,  when  the  French  and  Indians  were  defeated  in  Septem 
ber,  1755,  by  Sir  William  Johnson,  and  was,  in  the  following  May,  promoted  to 
Captain.  In  the  expeditions  against  Fort  Frontenac  and  Niagara  he  was 
promoted  to  be  \hzMajor  of  Sir  William  Johnson's  Regiment  in  1759  and 
Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  ist  New  York  Regiment  on  the  2oth  of  March,  1762. 

When  the  Revolutionary  War  commenced  he  had  acquired  a  thorough 
military  education,  bearing  the  mark  in  his  cheek  of  a  musket  ball  which  had 
struck  him  at  Ticonderoga,  and  from  the  effects  of  which  he  afterwards  died. 
On  the  3oth  of  June,  1775,  he  succeeded  Colonel  Myndert  Roseboom  in  com 
mand  of  the  2d  New  York  Regiment.  Under  the  Act  of  Congress,  24th  of 
March,  1776,  the  five  regiments  furnished  by  New  York  were  organized  for  the 
war,  and  he  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the  5th  New  York,  but  by  the  subsequent 
Act  of  Congress,  on  the  :6th  of  September  following,  he  was  arranged  under 
the  Continental  Establishment  of  the  State's  Quota,  on  the  2ist  of  November, 
1776,  the  Colonel  of  the  ist  New  York  Regiment,  which  position  he  retained 
during  the  rest  of  the  contest  or  until  the  regiment  was  mustered  out  of  the 
service. 

The  following  letter,  dated  from  Saratoga,  29th  of  October,  1776,  is  copied 
from  the  State  Papers  : 

"GENTLEMEN.  I  am  honored  with  your  favor  of  yesterday's  date — as  I  found  that  the 
Militia  moved  with  the  greatest  reluctance  from  Fort  Edward,  I  resolved  to  let  Colonel  Dayton — 
of  the  Jersey  line — prosecute  his  march  to  Ticonderaga  and  let  about  400  of  the  Militia  from 
Fort  Edward  march  to  Tryon  County  and  gave  orders  accordingly  early  yesterday  morning. 
Colonel  Dayton  has  already  passed  this  and  I  momentarily  expect  the  Militia  here 

"  Altho  I  am  quite  in  sentiment  with  you,  on  B.  Huston's  information,  yet  it  is  very  possible 
that  General  Carlton  may  detach,  or  has  already  detached  a  part  of  his  Force  (especially  his 
Indians,  Tories  &  Canadians,  who  would  be  of  very  little  service  in  an  attack  on  our  Lines)  to  the 
Mohawk  River.  I  shall  therefore  order  the  Militia  whom  I  expect  from  Fort  Edward,  to  pro 
ceed  without  delay  to  Tryon  County,  and  to  put  themselves  under  the  command  of  General 
Herkimer  or  Colonel  Van  Schaick,  whom  I  have  ordered  into  that  Quarter,  and  referred  to  you 
for  instructions. 

"  I  do  not  apprehend  that  an  attack  will  be  made  by  the  way  of  Fort  Stanwix,  and  as  the 
Garrison  at  that  place  is  sufficiently  numerous  I  would  not  advise  the  sending  any  more  men 
there.  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  proper  to  strip  the  City  altogether  of  Troops  and  you  will 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  329 

therefore  please  to  cause  some  of  the  Militia  to  remain  and  desire  Colonel  Van  Schaick  to  take 
the  two  Companies  of  his  Regiment  up  with  him. 

"  I  am  Gentlemen,  Respectfully,  Your  Most  Obdt  Humb  Servant 
"  Committee  of  Convention.  PH.  SCHUYLER." 

In  February,  1779,  leaving  his  command  at  Fort  Schuyler,  he  joined 
-Brigadier-General  James  Clinton,  who  was  marching  to  "expel  the  enemy's 
invasion  of  the  Mohawk,  and  on  the  2oth  of  the  following  April,  with  Colonel 
Peter  Gansevoort  and  five  hundred  men,  surprised  and  destroyed  the  Onondaga 
Settlements,  returning  to  his  command  on  the  24th,  For  this  service  he 
received  the  thanks  of  Congress  on  the  8th  of  June,  1779,  and  the  following 
notice  from  General  Washington  in  General  Orders,  dated  May  8th,  1779  : 

"  The  good  conduct,  secrecy,  spirit  and  despatch,  with  which  the  enterprize  was  executed, 
does  the  highest  honor  to  Colonel  Van  Schaick  and  the  officers  and  men  under  his  command,  and 
merits  the  thanks  of  the  Commander-in-Chief." 

On  the  i4th  of  November,  1770,  he  married  Maria  Ten  Broeck,  by  whom 
he  had  five  sons  and  one  daughter.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


GARRET  VAN   WAGENEN* 

Surgeon  %th  Pennsylvania  Regiment. 

Born  at  Kingston,  N.  Y.,  on  the  i5th  of  March,  1756.  Died  on  the  i2th  of 
April,  1792,  at  Newark,  N.  J. 

He  was  the  eldest  son  of  Jacob  Van  Wagenen  and  his  wife,  Neltje  Visscher, 
and  having  been  educated  practically  as  a  physician,  enlisted  in  the  cause  of 
the  Colony,  and  was  appointed  Surgeon  of  the  8th  Pennsylvania  Regiment, 
with  which  he  continued  until  honorably  discharged  the  service  at  the  close  of 
the  war. 

He  married  Miss  Todd,  a  Virginia  lady,  who  died  soon  afterwards  without 
issue.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

JOHN  ISAAC  PLUME  (Colonel  U.  S.  A), -his  nephew  (the  eldest  son  of 
his  only  sister,  Annatje,  the  wife  of  Isaac  Plume),  was  admitted  in  1824.!  He 
served  during  the  War  of  1812  in  Colonel  Schuyler's  Regiment,  at  Niagara  and 
along  the  frontier,  until  peace  was  declared  on  the  i4th  of  February,  1815. 
Residing  in  New  Jersey,  he  met  with  the  Society  there  on  the  4th  of  July,  1827, 
and  was  in  1830  elected  its  Secretary.  At  his  decease,  in  March,  1854,  the 

*  See  ante,  page  156.     The  Lieutenant  Garret  H.  Van  Wagener,  who  signed  the  remonstrance  with  Captain 
Aaron  Aorson  and  others,  was  his  first  cousin. 
t  See  ante,  page  106. 


330  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

New  York   State   Society  issued   a  general  order  to  wear  the  usual  badge  of 
mourning  for  him,  for  thirty  days. 

JOHN  VISSCHER  PLUME,  only  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted  by  the 
New  York  Society  in  1857.  He  died  without  issue  on  the  26th  of  April,  1884, 
at  San  Francisco. 


TUNIS  VAN   WAGENEN 

Lieutenant  2d  New  York  Regiment. 

Appointed  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  Ensign  in  the  2d  New  York 
Regiment — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's — and  promoted  to  be  a  Lieutenant  on  the 
loth  of  October  following.  In  August,  1778,  he  was  appointed  Brigade 
Quartermaster,  and  served  as  such  until  deranged,  January  ist,  1781,  by  Act 
of  Congress.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roil. 


HENRY   VAN   WOERT 

Lieutenant  and  Quartermaster  ist  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  on  the  2pth  of  March,  1747.     Died  on  the  5th  of  February,  1813. 

He  entered  the  service  as  Quartermaster  of  the  2d  Regiment,  New  York 
Continental  Infantry — Colonel  Van  Schaick's — on  the  3oth  of  June,  1775. 
Appointed,  upon  the  Continental  Establishment  of  New  York's  Quota,  under 
Colonel  Van  Schaick,  Ensign  of  the  ist  New  York  Regiment  on  the  aist  of 
November,  1776,  and  Quartermaster  in  January,  1779.  Promoted  to  be  a 
Lieutenant  on  the  2gth  of  September,  1780,  and  served  until  mustered  out  with 
his  regiment. 

General  Schuyler,  on  a  list  in  1776,  noted  him,  when  he  was  Quartermaster, 
"  as  a  good  officer."  He  appears  on  another  list  in  the  State  Records  as 
"Adjutant  and  as  having  resigned  that  position  in  or  before  1777." 

His  tombstone,  in  the  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  burial  ground  at  Albany, 
bears  the  following  inscription  : 

"  In  Memory  of  Henry  Van  Woert,  an  old  Revolutionary  Officer,  who  died  on  the  5th  of 
February,  1813.  Aged  65  years  and  10  months." 

He  married  Catharina  Eights,  by  whom  he  had  three  sons  and  four 
daughters.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  331 

RICHARD  VARICK 

Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Deputy  Mustermaster-General, 

Born  on  the  25th  of  March,  1753.     Died  on  the  3oth  of  July,  1831. 

At  the  time  of  his  birth  his  parents  were  living  at  Hackensack,  N.  J.  When 
the  Revolution  broke  out,  he  having  been  practising  his  profession,  the  law,  in 
New  York  City,  joined  the  army  in  1775,  and  was  appointed  a  Captain  in  the 
ist  New  York  Continental  Infantry,  under  Colonel  McDougall. 

On  the  roth  of  April,  1777,  being  at  that  time  the  Military  Secretary  of 
General  Schuyler,  Congress  conferred  upon  him  the  position  of  Deputy  Muster 
master-General  of  the  Northern  Department,  with  the  rank  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  and  he  was  on  duty  organizing  and  keeping  up  the  quotas  as  far  as 
possible  to  their  full  standard,  and  preparing  the  requirements  necessary 
to  impede  the  advance  of  General  John  Burgoyne,  who  had  already  made 
such  a  formidable  entrance  to  the  State  by  way  of  Lake  Champlain.  He  was 
present  at  his  final  total  defeat  and  surrender  at  General  Schuyler's  head 
quarters  at  the  confluence  of  the  Fish-Creek  and  the  Hudson,  near  where  the 
Aqueduct  of  the  Champlain  Canal  now  stands.  In  the  following  year  the  office 
he  held  having  been  abolished,  he  acted  as  Inspector-  General  at  West  Point  on 
the  staff  of  General  Arnold,  until  after  the  discovery  of  his  meditated  treason, 
when  Washington  took  him  into  his  "  military  family  "  as  Recording  Secretary 
of  his  official  and  private  correspondence,  which  position  he  held  during  the 
war. 

The   following  letters  from   Washington   to  him,  express   his   Excellency's 

sentiments  in  regard  to  his  ability  and  method  : 

"  ROCKY  HILL,  Oct.  2<d,  1783. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :   Enclosed  are  my  private  Letters  for  registering — 

"  As  fast  as  they  are  entered,  return  them  to  me  by  the  weekly  mail ;  for  we  have  occasion 
for  frequent  references — do  the  same  thing  with  the  Public  Letters. 

"  As  the  letters  which  are  handed  to  you  now,  contain  sentiments  upon  undecided  points,  it 
is,  more  than  ever,  necessary  that  there  should  be  the  strictest  guard  over  them,  and  the  most 
perfect  silence  with  respect  to  their  contents. —  Mr.  Taylers  prudence  will,  I  persuade  myself 
induce  him  to  pay  particular  attention  to  both. 

"  I  am  Dr.  Sir  Yr  most  obed  Servt  GO.   WASHINGTON." 

"  MOUNT  VERNON,  January  gth,  1784. 

"  DEAR  SIR — From  the  moment  1  left  the  City  of  New  York  until  my  arrival  at  this  place,  I 
have  been  so  much  occupied  by  a  variety  of  concerns,  that  I  could  not  find  a  moments  leisure  to 
acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  favors  of  the  4th  and  yth  ultimo. 

"  The  public  and  other  Papers  which  were  committed  to  your  charge,  and  the  Books  in 
which  they  have  been  recorded  under  your  inspection,  having  come  safe  to  hand,  I  take  this  first 
opportunity  of  signifying,  my  entire  approbation  of  the  manner  in  which  you  have  executed  the 
important  duties  of  recording  Secretary  ;  and  the  satisfaction  1  feel  in  having  my  Papers  so 
properly  arranged,  &  so  correctly  recorded — and  beg  you  will  accept  my  thanks  for  the  care  and 


332  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

attention  which  you  have  given  to  this  business — I  am  fully  convinced  that  neither  the  present 
age  nor  posterity  will  consider  the  time  and  labour  which  has  been  employed  in  accomplishing  it, 
unprofitably  spent. — 

"  I  pray  you  will  be  persuaded,  that  I  shall  take  a  pleasure  in  asserting  on  every  occasion  the 
sense  I  entertain  of  the  fidelity,  skill  and  indefatigable  industry  manifested  by  you  in  the  perform 
ance  of  your  public  duties,  and  of  the  sincere  regard  &  esteem  with  which 

"  I  am  Dr  Sir  Yr  most  obed  «fc  afft  Servt  GO.   WASHINGTON." 

In  the  Fall  of  1780  he  wrote  General  Schuyler  that  a  Court  of  Inquiry  was 
about  to  convene  respecting  his  having  been  conversant  with  Arnold's  plot  to 
surrender  West  Point  to  the  British,  desiring  him  to  attend,  whereupon  he  sent 
the  following  letter  to  the  Court,  addressed  to  Colonel  Van  Schaick,  its  presid 
ing  officer  : 

"  SARATOGA,  October  15th,  1780. 

"  SIR  :  Yesterday  I  received  a  letter  from  Colonel  Varick,  informing  me  that  he  had  intreated 
an  Inquiry  into  his  conduct,  and  that  it  would  probably  soon  take  place,  and  requesting  me  to 
attend  to  give  my  testimony.  As  he  has  long  resided  with  me,  nothing  but  a  very  ill  state  of 
health  prevents  my  attending.  I  consider  it  however  a  duty  incumbent  on  me  to  inform  you  Sir, 
and  thro,  you  the  Court,  that  in  the  year  1775,  Richard  Varick  Esq.  was  appointed  a  Captain  in 
one  of  the  New  York  Battallions  ;  that  when  the  command  of  the  Northern  Department  was 
conferred  on  me,  I  appointed  him  my  Secretary  ;  that  he  served  in  that  office  until  the  Autumn 
of  1776,  when  he  was  appointed  Deputy  Muster  Master  General  and  had  the  rank  of  Lieutenant 
Colonel  conferred  on  him,  in  which  office  he  remained  until  the  Muster  Master  Department  was 
abolished.  That  I  reflect  with  satisfaction  on  the  propriety  of  that  Gentlemans  conduct  in  every 
point  of  view  ;  that  I  had  such  entire  confidence  in  his  attachment  to  the  Glorious  Cause  we  are 
engaged  in,  that  I  concealed  nothing  from  him,  and  never  once  had  reason  to  repent  that  I 
reposed  so  much  trust  in  him  ;  that  I  am  so  far  from  believing  him  capable  of  betraying  his 
Country,  that  if  even  testimony  on  oath  was  given  against  him,  it  would  gain  little  credit  with 
me,  unless  the  persons  giving  it  were  of  fair  and  unblemished  characters.  Upon  the  whole  as  I 
have  always  found  him  to  be  a  man  of  strict  Honor,  probity  &  virtue,  so  I  do  still  believe  him 
to  be, — -I  am  Sir,  Your  most  obedient  Humble  Servant,  PH:  SCHUYLER. 

"  President  of  the  Court  for  Enquiring  into  the  Conduct  of  Lt.  Colo:  Varick." 

The  Court  unanimously  reported  their  opinion — 

"  That  Lieutenant  Colonel  Varick's  conduct,  with  respect  to  the  base  peculations  and  treas 
onable  practices  of  the  late  General  Arnold,  is  not  only  unimpeachable  but  we,  think  him  entitled 
through  every  part  of  his  conduct  to  a  degree  of  merit,  that  does  him  great  honor  as  an  officer 
and  particularly,  distinguishes  him  as  a  sincere  friend  of  his  Country." 

Which  was  approved  as  follows  : 

"  HEAD  QUARTERS,  CAMP  TOTOWA, 

THURSDAY  November  i6th,  1780. 

"  The  Commander  in  chief,  is  pleased  to  accept  and  approve  the  following  report  of  a  Court 
of  Enquiry,  held  at  West  Point,  the  2d  instant,  to  examine  into  the  conduct  of  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Varick,  in  his  connexion  with  the  late  Major  General  Arnold,  during  his  command  at 
West-Point  and  relative  to  his  desertion  to  the  Enemy. 

"  ALEXANDER-  SCAMMELL,  Adjutant  General. 

"  Co  to  net  Van  Schaick,  President ;  Lieutenant  Colonels  Cobb  and   Dearborn,  Major  Reid  and 
Captain  Cox,  Members." 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  333 

Arnold's  letter,  dated  from  the  '•  Vulture,"  acquits  him  of  all  knowledge  of 
his  intentions. 

The  following  letter  to  him  from  General  Schuyler  has  never  been  pub 
lished,  and  shows  the  intimacy  existing  between  them  : 

"  SARATOGA  May  3d  1778. 

"  DR  COLONEL.  I  thank  you  for  your  favor  by  Mr  Fonda  &  for  the  intelligence  you  have 
given  me —  I  had  a  hint  some  time  ago,  that  Gates  would  take  the  command  in  the  highlands  as 
soon  as  all  was  prepared,  he  has  the  luck  of  reaping  harvests  sown  by  others. 

"  I  hope  to  be  down  on  Wednesday.     My  Compliments  to  Mr  &  Mrs  Rensselaer.     Adieu — 

' '  I  am  Sir  Sincerely  Yours  &c  &c 
"  Col.  VARICK  PH.  SCHUYLER." 

He  accepted  the  office  of  Recorder  of  the  City  of  New  York  in  1783,  and 
in  the  next  year  was  elected  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature,  when,  with 
Samuel  Jones,  he  was  appointed  to  revise  the  Statutes  of  the  State,  issued  in 
1789.  He  presided  as  Speaker  of  the  Assembly  in  1787  and  1788.  Appointed 
Attorney-General  in  May,  1789,  and  the  following  September  elected  Mayor  of 
New  York,  which  office  he  retained  until  Edward  Livingston  succeeded  him  in 
1 80 1.  He  was  President  of  the  New  York  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  from  1806 
until  his  decease,  which  occurred  at  his  residence  in  Jersey  City,  upon  which 
occasion  the  Society  issued  the  general  order  to  attend  his  funeral  from  the 
Dutch  Church,  corner  of  Cedar  and  Nassau  Streets,  wearing  the  usual  badge 
of  mourning  for  thirty  days,  at  the  same  time  expressing  the  following  senti 
ments  : 

"  That  his  courtesy  and  kindness  to  the  members,  his  liberality  to  such  of  the  descendants  of 
deceased  members  as  needed  it,  and  his  attachment  to  this  Institution,  can  never  be  forgotten." 

He  married  Maria,  daughter  of  Isaac  Roosevelt,  but  died  without  issue 
surviving  him.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

JOHN  VREDENBURGH  VARICK,  his  nephew  (a  twin*),  son  of  his 
eldest  brother,  Abraham  Varick  and  Truentia  Vredenburgh,  was  admitted  to 
the  succession  in  1832.  He  died  on  the  i8th  of  May,  1835,  at  his  residence  in 
Jersey  City. 

RICHARD  ABRAHAM  VARICK,  eldest  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted  in 
1855.  He  died  in  1872. 

JOHN   BARNES  VARICK,  eldest  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted  in  1872. 


*  The  other  twin,  Abraham  Varick,  married  Anna  Floyd  (widow  of  George  W.  Clinton,  the  only  son  of 
Governor  George  Clinton),  daughter  of  General  William  Floyd,  of  Long  Island,  and  died,  leaving  two  daughters, 
Antoinette  and  Julia. 


334  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

PETER  VOSBUROUGH 

Captain  <\th  New  York  Regiment. 

He  was  a  resident  of  Ulster  County,  N.  Y.,  and  soon  after  the  Revolution 
broke  out  was  appointed,  in  1776,  a  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  Van  Schaick's  ist  New 
York  Regiment.  On  the  ist  of  February,  1777,  he  was  transferred  to  the  4th 
New  York  Regiment— Colonel  Henry  B.  Livingston's— with  the  same  rank. 

Appointed  Quartermasters  the  7th  of  September,  1778.  Promoted  to  be 
a  Captain  in  his  regiment  on  the  6th  of  January,  1779,  and  served  as  such  until 
mustered  out  of  the  service  at  the  close  of  the  war.  His  name  appears  on  the 
Half -Pay  Roll. 


JOHN   WALDRON 

Captain- Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Born  in  New  York  City  on  the  2gth  of  February,  1756.     Died  unmarried. 

He  was  the  eldest  son  of  William  Waldron  and  Helligant  Minthorne  (the 
half-sister  of  Captain  Jacob  and  Lieutenant  John  Reed),  and  a  descendant  of 
Resolved  Waldron,  of  Amsterdam,  Holland,  whose  son,  Joseph,  emigrated  to 
America  in  1752. 

With  Lieutenant-Colonel  Marinus  Willett  and  others*  he  removed  the  King's 
Arms  from  the  old  New  York  City  Hall,  in  Broad  Street. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Captain  Abraham  Van 
Dyck's  Company  of  Grenadiers,  ist  New  York  Regiment  of  Volunteer  Infantry 
or  Minute  Men,  under  Colonel  John  Lasher,  on  the  i4th  of  September,  1775. 

In  a  report  to  the  Committee  of  Arrangement,  made  to  them  by  the  officers 
of  his  regiment  and  dated  2gth  of  January,  1776,  he  was  mentioned 

"  As  one  of  the  regiment  willing  to  enter  into  the  service  of  his  country,  and  who  could  be 
depended  on." 

His  regiment  was  retained  in  the  service  until  after'  the  Battles  of  Long 
Island  and  White  Plains,  when,  in  November,  1776,  it  was  disbanded. 

Having  been  recommended  by  Colonel  Lasher  for  a  commission  in  the 
Regular  Army,  he  was,  on  the  ist  of  January,  1777,  appointed  Second  Lieti- 
tenant  of  the  2d  Regiment,  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery—  Colonel  Lamb's — 
and  on  the  i^th  of  September,  1778,  promoted  to  be  First  Lieutenant  of 

*  See  ante,  page  277. 


, 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  335 

Gershom  Mott's  and  afterward  of  Captain  John  Doughty's  Company.  On  the 
23d  of  March,  1781,  he  was  elected  its  Captain- Lieutenant.  On  the  following 
23d  of  June  he  was  transferred  to  Captain  Andrew  Moodie's  Company,  in  which 
he  served  until  he  was,  at  his  own  request,  honorably  discharged  on  the  8th  of 
April,  1782,  after  faithfully  serving  his  country  for  six  years. 


BENJAMIN    WALKER 

Captain    2d  New  York   Regiment,   Aide -de -Camp. 

Born  in  England  in  1753.  Died  on  the  i3th  of  January,  1818,  at  Utica, 
N.  Y. 

He  joined  the  army  as  a  Lieutenant  on  the  24th  of  February,  1776,  in  the 
ist  Regiment  of  Continental  Infantry — Colonel  McDougall's — and  was  pro 
moted,  on  the  Establishment  of  the  New  York  Quota  on  the  following  2ist  of 
November,  to  be  Captain  in  Colonel  Henry  B.  Livingston's  4th  New  York 
Regiment,  and  on  the  consolidation  was  transferred  to  the  2d  New  York 
Regiment — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's — as  Captain  of  the  First  Company. 

The  opportunity  for  the  opening  of  his  future  career  is  shown  in  the  follow 
ing  extract  from  a  letter  from  Colonel  Alexander  Scammell  to  General  Sullivan, 
dated  Valley  Forge,  April  8th,  1778,  when  Baron  Steuben  had  assumed  the 
duty  of  General-Inspector,  and  was  instructing  recruits  in  tactics  : 

"  At  the  first  parade,  the  troops  neither  understanding  the  command,  nor  how  to  follow  in  a 
movement,  to  which  they  had  not  been  accustomed,  even  with  th^ir  instructor  at  their  head,  were 
getting  fast  into  confusion.  At  this  moment  Captain  Benjami'i  Walker,  then  of  the  2d  New 
York  Regiment,  advanced  from  his  platoon,  offered  his  assistance  to  translate  the  order  to  the 
troops.  '  If,'  said  the  Baron,  '  I  had  seen  an  angel  from  Heaven,  I  should  not  have  been  more 
rejoiced.'  " 

His  knowledge  of  language  was  the  cause  of  his  being  attached  to  the 
Baron 's  Staff  as  an  Aide-de-Camp  in  September,  1778,  and  afterwards  as  his 
companion  and  heir  in  his  home  in  the  Wilderness,  "  the  Palace  of  Logs  " 

He  was  Steuben's  intelligent  medium  at  Headquarters,  with  Congress,  in 
the  Department  and  in  personal  complications.  His  correspondence  shows 
that,  like  his  young  associates  in  the  service,  he  owed  his  advancement  to  his 
cultivated  mind. 

Captain  Peter  S.  Duponceau,  who  served  with  him  on  the  Baron's  Staff,  has 
described  him — 

"  Not  with  a  brilliant,  but  a  solid  education,  he  was  master  of  the  French  language,  and 
gifted  by  nature  with  a  clear  head  and  sound  judgment.  He  was  brave,  intelligent,  honest  and 


336  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

true.     I  enjoyed  his  friendship  to  the  time  of  his  death.     He  was  beloved  and  respected  by  all 
who  knew  him." 

On  the  25th  of  February,  1782,  he  was  transferred  to  Washington's  Staff  as 
one  of  his  Aides. 

Copy  of  a  letter,  endorsed — 

"  Captn.  B.  Walker.      General  Washington  and  his  lady  are  to  visit  me  at  Pompton." 
"  To  Brigadier-General  Clinton  or  officer  commanding  the  New- York  Brigade  . 

"  MOKKISTOWN,  March  27th/S2. 

"  SIR,  The  Commander-in-Chief  proposes  leaving  this  place  to  morrow  morning  so  as  to 
arrive  in  the  vicinity  of  your  Cantonment  in  the  evening,  and  the  next  morning  early  will  review 
the  Troops,  and  proceed  the  same  day  as  far  as  Ringwood,  as  it  is  rather  dangerous  remaining 
all  night  in  the  Clove,  you  will  please  to  send  a  Captain's  Guard  from  your  Brigade,  to  remain 
at  Ringwood  the  night  the  General  stays  there.  You  will  also  please  to  order  your  Quarter 
Master,  to  provide  sufficient  quarters  in  your  vicinity  for  the  General  &  his  family,  which  consists 
of  Mrs.  Washington  and  four  Gentlemen,  with  nineteen  horses,  inclusive  of  the  escort  of  an 
officer,  Sergt.  and  twelve  Dragoons. 

"  I  am  Sir,  yr  very  humble  servant — 

"  BEN.  WALKER,  Aide  dc  Camp" 

After  the  peace  he  was  chosen  the  Private  Secretary  of  Governor  George 
Clinton,  and  as  a  subsequent  token  of  his  appreciation,  Washington  appointed 
him  Naval  Officer  of  the  Port  of  New  York.  In  1797  he  was  given  the  entire 
charge  of  the  Pultney  Estate  by  the  Earl  of  Bute,  at  Utica,  N.  Y.,  and  subse 
quently  was  sent  from  there  to  Congress  in  1801.  His  name  appears  on  the 
Half-Pay  Roll. 


JEDEDIAH     WATERMAN 

Ensign  %th  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

Died  on  the  25th  of  September,  1828. 

He  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society  in  1800. 

When  the  Revolutionary  War  commenced  he  entered  the  service  as  an 
Ensign  in  the  8th  Massachusetts  Regiment— Colonel  Michael  Jackson's— and 
served  with  it  during  the  war  and  until  honorably  discharged  the  service,  with 
his  regiment. 

At  his  death  the  Society  issued  the  following  general  order  : 

"  NEW  YORK,  September  25th,  1828. 

The  President  informs  the  members  that  Jedediah  Waterman,  Esq  ,  an  original  member  of 
the  Society,  died  this  morning,  after  a  long  and  painful  illness.  Mr.  Waterman  was  an  Ensign 
in  the  8th  Massachusetts  Regiment  of  the  Continental  Army,  was  a  brave  and  intelligent  officer, 
and  served  until  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  337 

"  The  members  of  the  Society  are  requested  to  attend  the  funeral  of  the  deceased  from  his 
late  residence,  No.  199  Cherry  Street,  on  Friday  (to-morrow)  afternoon,  at  half-past  four  o'clock, 
and  to  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  a  deceased  member.  By  order  of 

"  CHARLES  GRAHAM,  Secretary.  Colonel  RICHARD  VARICK,  President." 

He  married  Elizabeth  Plummer,  by  whom  he  had  one  son,  George,  who 
died  without  issue,  and  one  daughter,  Eliza,  who  became  the  wife  of  the 
Reverend  Thomas  De  Witt  and  the  mother  of  Mary  E.  (Mrs.  Theodore  Cuyler, 
D.D.),  and  Maria  (Mrs.  Morris  K.  Jesup).  He  was  for  many  years  a  promi 
nent  member  of  the  Standing  Committee.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay 
Roll. 

THOMAS  DE  WITT  CUYLER,  his  eldest  grandson,  was  admitted  in  1878. 


JAMES  WATSON 

Captain    Connecticut   Continental  Line. 

Under  a  resolution,  passed  by  the  Connecticut  branch  of  the  Cincinnati 
Society  on  the  7th  of  July,  1784,  admitting  officers  residing  in  the  State  who 
had  served  with  the  Continental  troops  raised  for  the  defence  of  any  of  the 
United  States,  he  was  on  that  day,  with  eighteen  others,  admitted  to  member 
ship. 

By  a  resolution  passed  at  the  meeting  held  at  Hartford,  on  the  4th  of  July, 
1787,  it  was  voted — 

"  That  the  monies  which  are  remaining  in  the  hands  of  Captain  Watson,  in  New  York, 
arising  from  the  sales  of  the  interest  on  our  funds,  shall  be  applied  towards  the  debts  due,  as 
aforesaid  mentioned,  so  far  as  they  may  be  necessary." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  New  York  State  Society,  held  at  the  "  Coffee  House," 
on  the  isth  of  July,  1786,  a  letter  was  read  from  him,  claiming  the  right  to  be 
a  member  of  the  Society,  which  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Admissions, 
who,  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Society,  on  the  iath  of  August,  reported  in  his 
favor,  and  he  appears  to  have  been  present  and  subscribed  his  name  to  the 
New  York  Roll,  but  without  rank. 

He  was  elected  Vice-President  of  the  New  York  State  Society  on  the  4th 
of  July,  1793. 

JAMES  TALCOTT  WATSON,  his  son,  was  admitted,  in  his  succession 
in  1806. 


338  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

SAMUEL    BLACHLEY   WEBB 

Colonel  $d  Connecuticut  Regiment. 

Born  at  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  in  1753.  Died  at  Claverack,  N.  Y.,  on  the 
3d  of  December,  1807. 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  Connecticut  Society,  but,  in  1785, 
removed  to  New  York  and  met  with  the  Society  there.* 

His  ancestor,  Richard  Webb,  of  England,  emigrated  to  America,  and 
became  a  freeholder  of  Boston  in  1632.  Subsequently  settled  on  a  grant  of 
land  in  Connecticut,  near  Hartford,  and  from  there  removed  to  Stamford, 
where  he  died  in  1676.  His  fathei,  Joseph  Webb,  founded  the  homestead 
called  "  Hospitality  Hall,"  at  Wethersfield,  Conn.  Upon  the  intelligence  of 
the  Battle  of  Lexington  reaching  him,  he  volunteered  as  a  private  in  Captain 
Chester's  Light  Infantry  Company,  and  was  soon  after  appointed  a  Lieutenant, 
and  marched  with  it  to  Bunker  Hill,  where  he  was  wounded  in  the  arm,  and 
where  he  held  the  angle  in  "the  stone  fence,"  for  which  he  was  thanked  in 
General  Orders  afterwards. 

In  a  letter,  dated  Camp  at  Cambridge,  July  nth,  1775,  addressed  to  the 
Hon.  Silas  Deane,  he  says  : 

"  General  Putnam  is  a  man  highly  esteemed  by  us.  He  has  done  me  the  honor  to  appoint 
me  his  first  Aide-dc-Ca»ip,  since  which  I  have  had  the  offer  of  being  a  Biigade  Major  from 
{Adjutant  General}  Gates.  They  are  both  honorable  and  agreeable  posts.  I  shall  for  the 
present  however  remain  with  General  Putnam.  This  post  will  cause  me  to  continue  with  the  best 
company  in  camp,  by  which  I  hope  to  improve.  Our  Commander-in  Chief,  together  with  other 
gentlemen  from  the  southward,  are  highly  esteemed  in  every  class.  They  will  be  a  means  of 
disciplining  the  Army,  which  was  much  wanted.  Your  friend,  Mr.  Mifflin,  is  a  gentleman,  my 
station  will  call  me  to  be  much  with  him." 

He  was  entrusted  to  conduct  the  prisoners  to  Hartford,  and  when  Putnam 
assumed  command  at  New  York,  with  his  headquarters  in  the  old  Schuyler 
house,  No.  i  Broadway,  he  accompanied  him  as  his  Aide,  submitting  a  plan  to 
cut  off  the  furnishing  of  supplies  to  the  British  ships,  by  a  water  patrol  of 
whale  boats  between  Amboy  and  Sandy  Hook,  and  which  was  approved  of  by 
the  Committee  of  Safety. 

On  the  2ist  of  June,  1776,  Washington  appointed  him,  in  General  Orders, 
his  Aidc-de-Camp,  with  rank  of  Major. 

At  the  Battle  of  White  Plains  he  was  wounded,  and  had  his  horse  shot 
under  him  while  carrying  orders. 

Desiring  more  active  service,  he  assisted,  in  1778,  recruiting,  and  after 
wards  obtained  the  command  of  a  regiment,  the  gth,  subsequently  known  as 

*  See  ante,  page  88. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  33Q 

the  3d  Connecticut,  and  joined  the  brigade  of  Brigadier-General  Samuel 
Holden  Parsons,*  then  stationed  on  the  Hudson. 

In  December,  1779,  a  detachment  from  Webb's  and  Colonel  Roger  Enos' 
regiments  crossed  over  Long  Island  Sound,  in  a  sloop  and  two  schooners,  to 
capture  the  enemy's  stores  at  Setauket  and  some  lumber  vessels  at  Southhold, 
when  unfortunately  they  met  the  British  frigate  "  Faulkland  "  on  her  way  to 
Newport,  R.  I.  The  two  schooners  ran  in  on  the  Connecticut  shore  with 
most  of  the  troops,  who  escaped  to  New  London,  and  from  there  they  were 
ordered  to  Peekskill,  where  they  remained  with  the  army  in  the  Highlands 
until  consolidated  with  the  Connecticut  Line,  in  January,  1781.  The  sloop, 
containing  ten  officers,  fifty  men  and  both  the  Colonels,  grounded  on  "  Old 
Man's  Shoal,"  and  was  captured,  when  they  were  all  carried  to  Newport, 
where,  after  a  short  confinement,  Colonel  Webb  was  paroled  to  Wethersfield 
and  so  to  Flatbush,  until  exchanged  in  January,  1782,  when  he  succeeded 
Steuben  to  the  command  of  the  Light  Infantry. 

He  was  engaged  in  the  Battle  of  Brandywine  and  wounded  at  Trenton. 

After  the  war  he  resided  in  Pearl  Street,  New  York,  having  married,  first, 
Eliza  Bancker,  who  died  without  issue,  and  then  Catherine  Hogeboom,  of 
Claverack,  N.  Y.,  by  whom  he  had  four  sons  and  five  daughters.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

HENRY  LIVINGSTON  WEBB,f  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1851  by 
the  New  York  Society.  He  married,  in  1816,  Mary  Ann  Edwards,  by  whom  he 
had  nine  children,  and  died  at  New  Orleans  on  the  5th  of  December,  1876. 

CHARLES    FREDERICK   WEISSENFELS 

Lieutenant  2d  New  York  Regiment. 

He  entered  the  service  at  the  commencement  of  the  War  for  Independence, 
and  appears  to  have  served  in  the  Canada  Campaign  with  his  relative,  Colonel 
Frederick  (Baron]  Von  Weissenfels.  Under  the  order  of  Brigadier -General 
Wooster,  dated  April  isth,  1776,  before  Quebec,  consolidating  those  of  the 
four  New  York  Regiments,  who  had  not  returned  home,  into  one  regiment 
under  Colonel  John  Nicholson,  he  was  appointed  an  Ensign  of  the  First 
Company. 

*  He  was  drowned  in  the  Ohio  River,  near  Pittsburgh,  on  the  i;th  of  November,  1789. 

t  Under  the  resolution  of  1857  the  following  descendants  of  Colonel  Webb  were  admitted  as  Life  Members : 
Stephen  Hogeboom  Webb,  Walter  Wimple  Webb  and  General  James  Watson  Webb  (sons);  also,  Robert  Stewart 
Webb,  Watson  Webb,  General  Alexander  Stewart  Webb,  General  George  Webb  Morell  and  James  Watson  Averell 
( grandsons;. 


34° 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


When  the  3d  New  York  Regiment  was  organized,  under  the  Act  of  Con 
gress,  on  the  24th  of  March,  1776,  the  field  officers,  in  a  report  made  by  them, 
state  :  "  We  shall  be  happy  to  have  him  removed  to  this  regiment.'' 

On  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  he  was  appointed  a  Second  Lieutenant  in 
the  2d  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's — and  on  the  ist  of 
September,  1777,  promoted  to  Lieutenant  in  the  same,  until  October,  1779, 
when  he  was  appointed  Quartermaster,  until  mustered  out  at  the  end  of  the 
war.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


FREDERICK    WEISSENFELS 

Lieutenant-Colonel   Commanding    $d  New    York   Regiment. 

Frederick  (Baron]  Von  Weissenfels  was  born  at  Ebling,  Prussia,  in  1728. 
Died  at  New  Orleans  on  the  i4th  of  May,  1806. 

Although  trained  as  a  Cadet  under  Frederick  the  Great,  he  entered  the 
British  service  as  a  Lieutenant,  and  came  to  America  in  1756. 

He  was  at  the  taking  of  Havana,  and  served  under  General  Abercrombie  at 
the  siege  of  Ticonderoga,  in  1758,  and  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  at  Quebec, 
when  General  Wolfe  fell  at  the  moment  of  victory. 

He  was,  in  1759,  a  store-keeper  at  Rye,  Westchester  County,  N.  Y.,  running 
also  a  ferry  to  Oyster  Bay,  L.  I.  Drake  places  him  as  residing  in  Dutchess 
County  in  1763. 

He  appears  in  the  "Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New  York,"  with 
Marinus  Willett  and  Gershom  Mott,  offering  their  services,  in  a  letter  dated 
June  6th,  1775,  as  follows  : 

"  GENTLEMEN — As  we  have  been  ever  heartily  attached  to  the  cause  of  our  Country,  so  we 
are  now  ready  to  engage  in  the  defence  of  her  rights;  and  as  we  understand  troops  are  soon  to 
be  raised  in  this  Province,  we  think  it  a  duty  incumbent  on  us  to  offer  our  services." 

On  the  25th  of  June,  1775,  they  appointed  him  a  Captain,  and  he  was  com 
missioned  on  the  28th  in  the  ist  New  York  Continental  Infantry — Colonel 
McDougall's — serving  with  it  in  the  Canada  Campaign,  and  for  a  time  as  Senior 
Captain  of  Colonel  Van  Schaick's,  until  appointed  at  Quebec,  on  the  i5th  of 
April,  1776,  the  Lieutenant-Colonel  Q{  Colonel  Nicholson's  Regiment.  This  was 
a  provisional  organization  formed  by  General  Wooster  from  the  remnant  of  the 
four  New  York  regiments. 

In  November,  1776,  he  was  entrusted  with  .£3,000  bounty  money  for 
disbursement. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  341 

A  letter  in  the  "  American  Archives  "  states — 

"  That  Colonel  Weissenfels  was  in  1775,  in  command  at  New  York,  and  went  to  Canada  to 
repel  Governor  Carleton,  who  was  coming  to  New  York  to  punish  the  rebels.  He  was  at  Quebec 
with  General  Montgomery,  and  ranked  as  Brigade  Major." 

In  the  ensuing  campaign,  while  stationed  at  Westchester,  on  the  lines, 
acting  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  3d  New  York  Regiment,  as  reorganized  in 
March,  1776,  under  Colonel  Rudolph  Ritzema — who,  after  frequent  absence, 
during  which  it  was  claimed  he  was  in  New  York,  deserted  to  the  enemy — he 
was  placed  in  command  of  that  regiment  by  General  Washington,  on  the  8th  of 
March,  1776,  and  led  the  regiment  in  the  battle  at  White  Plains,  and  subse 
quently  across  the  Hudson,  through  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania. 

On  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  upon  the  establishment  of  the  New  York 
quotas,  he  was  appointed  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  2d  New  York  Regiment — 
Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's — and  went  into  Winter  quarters  at  New  Windsor,  taking 
part  the  next  Summer  in  the  Burgoyne  Campaign. 

On  the  i3th  of  January,  1777,  he  was  transferred  to  the  4th  New  York 
Regiment.  Colonel  Henry  B.  Livingston  having  resigned,  he  was,  on  the  26th 
of  April,  1779,  appointed  its  Colonel  Commandant. 

When  Congress  subsequently  passed  the  Act  reducing  the  quotas  of  New 
York  from  five  to  two  regiments,  his  regiment  was  consolidated  with  the  2d 
New  York — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's — and  he  became  deranged,  until  Governor 
George  Clinton  tendered  the  two  additional  regiments  from  the  State,  which 
Congress  accepted;  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Weissenfels  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Marinus  Willett  were,  on  the  28th  of  April,  1781,  appointed  to  their  command, 
and  until  the  termination  of  the  war,  with  rank  dating  from  September  i8th, 
1780. 

Colonel  Van  Cortlandt,  in  1831,  wrote  as  follows  : 

"  My  old  and  much  esteemed  friend,  Colonel  Frederick  Weissenfels,  together  with  myself, 
entered  the  Army  in  the  Commencement  of  the  War,  and  served  to  the  end  thereof,  and  he 
hopes  that  the  Government  still  retains  some  remembrance  of  the  Old  Soldier's  ardent  Services. 
*  *  A  good  Soldier,  and  faithful  in  the  interest  of  the  United  States:  He  was  highly 
esteemed  by  General  Washington  and  all  his  brother  Officers,  all  which,  to  me,  was  well 
known.  He  retained  his  rank  in  the  Army  as  long  as  he  lived,  and  after  the  Peace,  he  was  in 
the  Service  of  trie  State  of  New  York  on  several  Commands." 

General  William  Colfax,  another  veteran,  writing  from  Pompton,  N.  J.,  on 
March  i5th,  1838,  says  : 

"  It  gives  me  pleasure,  great  pleasure,  to  render  my  tribute  to  the  Services  of  my  brother 
officer,  who  was  engaged  in  the  great  Struggle  for  American  Liberty  and  Independence.  I  well 
remember  Colonel  Weissenfels,  when  Commanding  the  Life  Guard  of  General  Washington,  who 
gave  me  the  hospitalities  of  his  table — in  that  Situation  I  became  acquainted  with  the  Officers  of 
the  Army  very  generally.  It  was  the  practice  of  the  General,  in  Winter  Quarters,  to  give 
written  invitations,  to  a  Certain  number  of  Officers  of  different  grades,  to  dine  with  him,  until  all 


342  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

had  had  their  turn.  Frequently,  very  frequently,  Colonel  Weissenfels  dined  with  the  Commander- 
in-Chief.  General  Washington  esteemed  Colonel  Weissenfels,  a  brave,  intelligent,  efficient 
Officer,  punctual  in  duty,  and  always  at  his  post." 

Although  really  requiring  it,  in  his  old  age  he  could  not  be  induced  to 
claim  the  pension  or  half-pay  for  life  awarded  by  the  Act  of  Congress.  The 
State  of  New  York,  however,  recognized  his  services  on  the  9th  of  July,  1790, 
by  a  grant  to  him  of  three  thousand  acres  of  land.* 

In  1777  he  married  Elizabeth  Bogart,  Colonel  Philip  Van  Cortlandt  acting 
as  groomsman.  His  only  son,  Frederick,  died  at  Alexandria,  Va.,  of  yellow 
fever,  in  1798.  His  two  daughters,  Eliza  (Mrs.  Rigal)  and  Harriet  (Mrs.  John 
Martin  Baker),  survived  him. 


JACOB  HENRY    WENDELL 

Lieutenant  and  Adjutant    \st  New    York   Regiment. 

Born  on  the  2ist  of  October,  1754.     Died  on  the  23d  of  March,  1826. 

He  was  a  descendant  of  Evert  Jansen  Wendell,  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  son 
of  Harmanus  Wendell  and  Catharine  Van  Vechten. 

Appointed,  on  the  2istof  November,  1776,  Ensign  of  Van  Ness's  Company 
of  the  ist  New  York  Regiment— Colonel  Van  Schaick's.  Promoted  to  be  Lieu 
tenant™  January,  1779,  and  Adjutant  of  the  same  on  the  2gth  of  September, 
1780.  He  served  until  honorably  discharged  with  his  regiment  at  the  close  of 
the  war. 

In  1785  he  married  Gertrude,  the  daughter  of  Peter  Lansing,  of  Albany, 
by  whom  he  had  one  son  (Dr.  Peter  Wendell)  and  two  daughters,  who  died 
unmarried.  He  represented  Albany  County  in  the  New  York  State  Legisla 
ture  for  three  sessions— 1796-'7-'8— of  the  House  of  Assembly.  His  name 
appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

HARMAN  WENDELL,  M.D.,  his  grandson,  eldest  son  of  Dr.  Peter 
Wendell,  was  admitted  in  1851.  He  died  on  the  22d  of  February,  1881, 

unmarried. 

> 

BENJAMIN  RUSH  WENDELL,  the  next  eldest  brother  of  the  last,  was 
admitted  in  1881.  He  died  on  the  24th  of  October,  1884,  at  his  residence  in 
Cazenovia,  N.  Y.,  having  married  Margaret  Ten  Eyck  Burr. 

BURR  WENDELL,  eldest  surviving  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted  in  1885. 


From  I794  until  his  decease  the  society  donated  him  from  the  fund  about  seven  hundred  dollars. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  343 

JOHN   HARMANUS   WENDELL 

Captain  \  st  New  York  Regiment. 

Born  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  in  1744.  Died  there  on  the  roth  of  July,  1832. 
•  He  was  the  elder  brother  of  Lieutenant  Jacob  Henry  Wendell,  and  was 
practicing  law  when  the  Revolutionary  War  commenced.  On  the  3oth  of  June, 
1775,  he  was  appointed  Lieutenant  and  Quartermaster  of  the  2d  Battalion, 
under  Colonel  Myndert  Roseboom,  and  served  with  it  in  the  Canada  Campaign 
when  commanded  by  Colonel  Goose  Van  Schaick  as  the  2d  New  York,  and  on 
the  ist  of  March,  1776,  appears  to  have  been  promoted  Captain  of  the  Seventh 
Company.  After  the  establishment  of  the  New  York  Quota  he  was,  on  the 
2TSt  of  November,  1776,  arranged  as  a  Captain  of  the  ist  New  York  Regi 
ment — Colonel  Van  Schaick's — and  served  as  such  until  he  resigned  on  the  5th 
of  April,  1781. 

He  was  in  the  Battle  of  Monmouth  and  in  the  Northern  Army  at  the  sur 
render  of  Burgoyne. 

After  the  war  he  was  made  Brigadier-General  of  the  Militia,  under  the 
State  organization,  and  elected  from  Albany  County  a  member  of  the  State 
Legislature  from  1796  to  1798,  and  Surrogate  of  the  same  in  1812. 

At  his  decease  the  following  was  issued  : 
"  General  Order.  NEW  YORK,  July  I2th,  1832. 

"  The  President,  with  deep  regret,  announces  to  the  members  of  the  Society  the  decease  of 
their  respected  friend  and  companion-in-arms,  General  John  H.  Wendell.  He  died  at  the  City 
of  Albany,  on  Monday  last,  in  the  88th  year  of  his  age. 

"At  the  commencement  of  the  Revolutionary  contest  General  A'endell  abandoned  the  practice 
of  the  law,  in  which  he  was  then  engaged,  and  was  appointed  a  Captain  in  the  rst  New  York 
Regiment,  commanded  by  the  late  O'loncl  Van  Schaick.  II j  distinguished  himself  at  the 
celebrated  Battle  of  Monmouth,  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  and  served  in  the  Northern  Army, 
commanded  by  the  late  Major-General  Gates,  until  and  after  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne's 
army. 

"After  the  peace  General  Wendell  accepted  a  command  in  the  militia,  and  continued  attached 
to  it  until  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  General. 

"  The  members  of  the  Society  are  requested  to  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty 
days  in  memory  of  their  departed  friend  and  brother  soldier.  By  order  of 

"  Major- General  MORGAN  LEWIS,  President. 

"CHARLES  GRAHAM,   Secretary. 

He  married  Cathalina  Van  Benthuysen,  of  Albany,  by  whom  he  had  one 
son,  Harmanus,  who  died  unmarried,  and  one  daughter,  Rachel,  who  married 
Herman  Knickerbacker.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

GRIFFITH  PRITCHARD  GRIFFITH,  his  great-grandson,  eldest  son  of 
John  M.  Griffith  and  Catalina  Knickerbacker,  was  admitted,  in  1880,  in  the 
succession. 


344  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

MICHAEL  WETZELL 

Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

He  was,  upon  the  recommendation  of  Captain  Sebastian  Bauman,  appointed, 
on  the  2Qth  of  June,  1781,  Lieutenant  of  Fleming's  Company,  in  the  2d  Regi 
ment,  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's — and  on  the  i2th  of 
June,  1783,  Regimental  Quartermaster.  Honorably  mustered  out  of  the  service, 
with  a  portion  of  his  regiment,  on  the  ist  of  January,  1784.  His  name  appears 
on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

ANDREW   WHITE 

Lieutenant    id    New     York    Regiment. 

Died  in  March,  1805. 

He  appears  to  have  been  an  Associator  for  liberty,  in  Ulster  County,  on  the 
6th  of  July,  1775. 

Appointed,  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  Ensign  of  the  Fourth  Company 
of  the  2d  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's — and  subsequently 
promoted  to  be  Lieutenant.  He  resigned  on  the  5th  of  April,  1780. 

In  a  letter  from  Colonel  Gansevoort  to  Governor  George  Clinton,  dated  Camp 
Orange  Town,  i6th  of  August,  1780,  he  is  mentioned  as  "  having  resigned  from 
the  service." 

In  1796  he  represented  Washington  County  in  the  New  York  State 
Legislature.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


Colonel   \st  Regiment   Light   Dragoons. 

Compiled  from  Anna  M.  W.  Woodhull's  memoir. 

j 

Born  near  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  on  the  7th  of  July,  1750.  Died  on  the 
roth  of  February,  1803. 

He  was  a  descendant  of  Captain  John  White,  of  England,  who,  in  1587,  was 
sent  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  to  Virginia,  as  the  Governor  of  that  colony.  He  was 
the  only  son  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Anthony  White,  of  New  Brunswick,  and  Eliza 
beth,  the  daughter  of  Lewis  Morris,  then  Governor  of  New  Jersey.  His  great 
grandfather,  Captain  Leonard  White,  of  the  Royal  Navy,  was  the  eldest  son  of 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  345 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Anthony  White,  who  served  under  William  of  Orange  in  the 
Battle  of  Boyne,  became  a  member  of  the  King's  Council,  and  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Bermudas,  whose  father,  Anthony  White,  was  a  zealous  officer  in  the  civil 
wars  during  the  reign  of  Charles  I.,  and  who,  on  his  way  to  Virginia,  landing 
at  the  Bermudas,  became  a  resident  there,  and  subsequently  became  connected 
with  its  government.  His  grandfather,  Anthony  White,  came  to  New  York  in 
1715,  where,  in  the  following  year,  he  married  Joanna,  one  of  those  six  cele 
brated  and  beautiful  daughters  of  Doctor  Samuel  Staats  and  his  wife,  the  East 
Indian  Princess,  or  "  Begum."  He  received  his  middle  name  from  his  relative 
and  godfather  William  Walton,  of  New  York. 

Appointed  an  Aide-de-Camp  on  the  staff  of  Washington,  with  the  rank  of 
Major,  in  October,  1775,  and  on  the  following  pth  of  February  he  was  com 
missioned  by  Congress  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  3d  Battalion  of  New  Jersey 
(first  establishment}. 

On  the  i3th  of  February,  1777,  he  was  appointed  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the 
4th  Regiment  of  Light  Dragoons,  and  accompanied  his  command,  under  Wash 
ington's  order,  to  the  Southern  Department,  where  it  achieved  such  a  national 
reputation. 

On  the  loth  December,  1779,  he  was  appointed  Lieutenant- Colonel  (Com 
mandant]  of  the  ist  Regiment  of  Light  Dragoons;  and  on  the  i6th  of  the 
following  February  was  promoted  to  be  its  Colonel,  and  procured  on  his  own 
personal  credit  the  funds  necessary  to  uniform  and  equip  it.  He  was  ordered 
to  the  relief  of  Major-General  Horatio  Gates,  just  before  his  defeat  at  Camden, 
but  did  not  arrive  in  time  for  the  battle  of  the  i6th  of  August.  Early  in  1781, 
he  was  ordered  back  to  Virginia,  under  the  Marquis  cle  La  Fayette,  and  was 
there  engaged  in  various  successful  skirmishes  with  his  old  antagonist,  Colonel 
Sir  Banastre  Tarleton.  In  the  movement  of  Brigadier-General  Anthony 
Wayne  at  Savannah,  on  the  2ist  of  May,  1782,  he  contributed  much  to  its 
success  by  his  bold  cavalry  charge,  and  after  the  evacuation  of  the  city  by  the 
British,  he  brought  his  command  up  to  Charleston,  where  his  generosity  was 
again  displayed  by  becoming  security  for  the  required  necessaries  of  life  for 
his  officers  and  men.  The  proceeds  of  that  year's  tobacco  crop  was  pledged 
to  him,  but  which,  proving  of  no  avail,  most  of  his  property  in  the  North  was 
subsequently  obliged  to  be  sacrificed. 

He  married  in  1783  the  beautiful  and  attractive  heiress  Margaret  Ellis,  of 
South  Carolina,  whose  mother  was  a  sister  of  Elias  Vanderhorst,  the  American 
Consul  at  Bristol,  England,  in  1780,  and  who  was  a  descendant  of  (Baron} 
Vanderhorst,  of  Holland. 

Mrs.  Martha  J.  Lamb,  in  her  "History  of  the  City  of  New  York,"  1881, 
gives  an  account  of  the  grand  procession  three  days  before  the  adoption  of  the 


346  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Federal  Constitution  by  New  York,  July  23d,  1788  (the  State  Convention  did 
not  adopt  it  until  July  26th): 

"  Mounted  on  a  fine  gray  horse,  elegantly  caparisoned,  and  led  by  two  colored  men  in  white 
Oriental  dresses  and  turbans,  Anthony  Walton  White  bore  the  Arms  of  the  '  United  States' 
in  sculpture,  preceding  the  Society  of  the  '  Cincinnati/  in  full  military  uniform." 

After  the  establishment  of  peace,  he  returned  with  his  family  from  the 
South  to  New  York,  and  in  1793  removed  to  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  his  native 
town,  where  he  lived  until  the  close  of  his  life.  In  1794,  at  the  request  of 
Washington,  he  took  the  command  of  the  Cavalry,  under  General  Lee,  against 
the  insurgents  in  the  West,  and,  upon  the  return  of  the  expedition,  took  charge 
of  the  prisoners  on  their  march  to  Philadelphia. 

In  vain  he  petitioned  Congress  to  be  reimbursed  for  the  moneys  paid 
by  him  in  the  settlements  of  the  accounts  in  the  South  incurred  for  the 
cause. 

KOSCIUSZKO  made  Colonel  White's  house,  "  Sans  Souci"  his  home  for 
one  Winter  during  a  severe  sickness,  where  he  received  the  kind  attentions  of 
Mrs.  White  and  her  daughter,  which  afterward  he  so  gratefully  acknowledged 
in  his  letters  to  them.*  When,  in  1797,  revisiting  America,  he  and  Colonel 
White  exchanged  their  gold  eagles  of  the  Order  of  the  Cincinnati. 

Colonel  White's  monument  in  the  burying-ground  of  Christ's  Church,  New 
Brunswick,  N.  J.,  bears  the  following  inscription: 

"  J1  rig. -Gen.  ANTHONY  WALTON  WHITE, 

Who  departed  this  life 
on  the  roth  of  February,  1803, 

In  the  53d  year  of  his  age, 
Rests  beneath  this  monumental  stone. 

He  was  an  affectionate  husband,  a  tender  parent,  a  sincere  and 

generous  friend,  a  zealous  and  inflexible  patriot, 

and  a  faithful,  active  and  gallant  officer 

in  the  Army  of  the  United  States 

during  the  Revolutionary  War." 

In  the  provisional  Army  of  the  United  States  in  1798,  he  was  appointed  a 
-Brigadier- General,  and  subsequently  elected  Adjutant-General  of  the  State  of 

New  Jersey.     His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

> 

ANTHONY  WALTON  WHITE  EVANS,  his  eldest  grandson,  was 
admitted  in  1842,  and  died  in  New  York  City  on  the  28th  of  November,  1886, 
the  Society  attending  his  funeral  at  Woodlawn  Cemetery.  For  many  years  he 
had  been  an  active  member  of  the  Standing  Committee. 

*  It  was  then  he  made  the  sketch  of  himself  reclining  on  a  sofa;  the  badge  of  the  Cincinnati  was  added  by 
Mrs.  Evans  in  1883. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  347 

MARINUS    WILLETT 

Lieiiitnant  Colonel  (Commandant}  ^th  New  York  Regiment. 

Compiled  from  his  son  William  M.  Willett's  "  Narrative." 

Born  on  the  3ist  of  July,  1740,  at  Jamacia,  L.  I.  Died  on  the  22d  of 
August,  1830.* 

He  was  the  youngest  so'n  of  Edward  Willett,  a  respectable  Quaker,  residing 
on  a  farm  near  Jamaica  until  he  moved  to  the  country  seat  on  the  East  River, 
called  Cedar  Grove,  now  in  New  York  City,  and  known,  until  quite  lately,  as 
Colonel  Willett's  place,  and  where  his  grandfather,  Samuel  Willett,  foimerly  the 
Sheriff  of  Queens  County,  died,  at  ninety-three  years  of  age. 

Elbert  Willett,  who  died  a  few  years  since,  at  ninety  years  of  age,  at  his 
residence  in  Albany,  was  his  only  surviving  brother. 

While  George  II.  was  reigning  over  the  Colonies,  the  contemplated  invasion 
of  Canada  inspirited  young  Willett  to  join  it,  and  in  1758  he  obtained  a  com 
mission  as  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  Long  Island  Company  of  Colonel  Oliver 
DeLancey's  Regiment,  in  General  James  Abercrombie's  Expedition  to  Ticon- 
deroga  and  Crown  Point.  After  the  repulse  and  death  of  the  first  Lord  Howe, 
a  detachment  of  three  thousand  men,  including  Lieutenant  Willett,  was  sent 
under  Colonel  John  Bradstreet  to  Oswego,  and  across  Lake  Ontario  to  Canada, 
against  Fort  Frontenac  (now  Kingston).  The  troops,  after  experiencing  many 
obstacles  and  much  suffering,  both  by  land  and  sea,  destroyed  the  fort  on  the 
27th  of  August,  and  returned  with  the  spoils  to  the  Oneida  carrying  place 
(Fort  Stanwix),  with  only  one-half  the  command  left  and  fit  for  duty. 

The  many  exposures  he  experienced  in  this  expedition  brought  on  a  fever, 
which  compelled  him  to  return  home  and  relinquish  military  life  for  awhile. 
The  experience  he  had  gained  of  warfare  in  a  rough  country  proved  subse 
quently  of  much  value  to  him. 

When  the  British  in  New  York  City,  about  embarking  for  Boston,  under 
took  to  carry  off  several  cases  of  arms,  a  small  party,  with  Lieutenant  Willett 
at  their  head,  arrested  one  of  the  wagons  at  the  lead  of  the  train  containing 
them.  Notwithstanding  he  was  expostulated  with,  not  only  by  the  Mayor, 
David  Mathews,  but  by  several  others,  and  even  Gouverneur  Morris,  he  pre 
vented  their  taking  them  away  by  his  determination  and  nerve,  and  shortly 
afterward  they  came  in  play  to  equip  the  ist  New  York  Continental  Regiment 
for  service  at  home.  It  is  also  related  of  him,  that,  with  the  assistance  of  a 
few  others,  he  took  down  the  King's  Arms  f  from  the  old  New  York  City  Hall, 
then  in  Broad  Street. 

*  See  ante,  page  109. 
t  See  ante,  page  277. 


•548  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

The  Revolutionary  War  now  having  broken  out,  he  offered  his  services 
against  the  Crown,  and  on  the  28th  of  June,  1775,  was  appointed  a  Captain  in 
Colonel  McDougalFs  ist  New  York  Regiment,  Continental  Infantry,  and  pro 
ceeded  with  it  to  join  General  Richard  Montgomery  in  the  Expedition  to 
Canada. 

After  the  capture  of  Ticonderoga,  in  May,  by  Colonel  Ethan  Allen,  his  regi 
ment  was  stationed  there  until  it  moved  on  to  St.  Johns,  where,  after  escorting 
the  prisoners  taken  at  Chambli  to  Ticonderoga,  it  remained  until  the  expiration 
of  its  enlistment,  in  January,  1776. 

Upon  the  Continental  Establishment  of  the  New  York  Quota  he  was,  on  the 
2ist  of  November,  1776,  appointed  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  3d  New  York 
Regiment—  Colonel  Peter  Gansevoort's — and  stationed  at  Fort  Constitution, 
until  the  iSth  of  May,  1777,  when  it  marched  up  the  Mohawk  to  the  Oneida 
carrying  place  (Fort  Stanwix),  where  he  had  already  been  stationed  under  Gen 
eral  John  Stanwix  during  the  French  War,  arriving  there  on  the  2Qth  inst. 
The  fort  having  now  gone  to  ruin,  they  rebuilt  it,  and  named  it  after  General 
Schuyler.  A  large  supply  of  ammunition,  supplies  and  an  additional  force  of 
two  hundred  troops,  arriving  on  the  2d  of  August,  had  scarcely  come  into  it, 
when  Sir  John  Johnson  and  Colonel  Barry  St.  Leger,  with  the  British  troops 
and  savages,  arrived.  The  garrison,  consisting  of  about  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  men,  prepared  themselves  to  maintain  the  post,  so  important  to  the  safety 
of  Albany  and  the  Northern  Army,  under  General  Schuyler,  then  disputing  the 
advance  of  the  British  invasion  from  Canada,  under  General  John  Burgoyne. 

On  the  4th  of  August,  St.  Leger  opened  fire  en  the  fort,  which  continued 
for  two  days,  when  two  messengers  came  in  with  the  intelligence  that  Genera! 
Herkimer  was  hurrying  up  with  the  Tryon  County  Militia  to  raise  the  siege. 
St.  Leger  going  to  intercept  them,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Willett,  with  two  hundred 
and  fifty  men,  was  sent  out  by  Colonel  Gansevoort  to  reconnoitre.  He  sallied 
forth,  spoiled  the  enemy's  camp,  and  brought  back  into  the  fort  five  British 
flags  and  most  of  their  stores,  camp  equipage  and  baggage,  without  the  loss  of 
a  man. 

In  commemoration  of  which  the  following  was  adopted  in  Congress,  on 
the  4th  of  October,  1777  :  > 

"  A'eso/7'ed,  That  Congress  have  a  just  sense  of  the  distinguished  merit  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Willett  for  a  repeated  instance  of  his  bravery  and  conduct  in  his  late  successful  sally  on 
the  enemy  investing  Fort  Schuyler;  and  that  the  Commissary-General  of  Military  Stores  be 
directed  to  procure  an  elegant  sword,  and  present  the  same  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Willett  in  the 
name  of  these  United  States.  By  order  of  Congress. 

"JOHN  HANCOCK,   President:' 

General  Herkimer's  army,  too  rash  in  their  desire  to  relieve  Colonel  Ganse 
voort,  were  attacked  in  ambush  by  Sir  John  Johnson  and  his  savages,  while 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  349 

crossing  a  low,  swampy  piece  of  ground  covered  with  trees  and  underbrush. 
Here  the  fenrful  battle-  of  Oriskany  was  fought  and  lost,  and  the  brave  Gen 
eral  Herkim^r  laid  down  for  his  country  his  life.  The  siege  of  the  fort  was 
now  resumed,  and  St.  Leger  demanded,  in  vain,  its  surrender.  Colonel  Ganse- 
voort  now  desiring  to  get  word  to  General  Schuyler  to  send  up  some  assistance, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Willett  and  Lieutenant  Stockwell  courageously  volunteered 
to  pass  through  the  enemy's  line.  They  crossed  the  Mohawk  River  on  the 
night  of  the  loth  of  August,  with  only  a  few  crackers  and  a  canteen  of  rum 
in  their  pocket,  and  after  escaping  the  vigilant  eye  of  the  red  man,  arrived  at 
daybreak,  on  their  second  day  out,  at  the  German  Flats,  where  they  were 
informed  that  Arnold's  Brigade  were  hurrying  up  to  Colonel  Gansevoort's 
relief.  The  savages  under  Sir  John  Johnson  learning  this  from  Hans  Yost 
Schuyler— the  spy — forsook  St.  Leger,  who,  unable  to  make  Colonel  Ganse- 
voort  surrender,  abandoned  the  siege,  and  the  whole  posse  of  his  elegant 
troops  and  savages  fled  back  to  Canada. 

Colonel  Gansevoort  going  to  Albany,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Willett  was  now  left 
in  command  of  the  fort  until  the  following  September,  when  he  went  to  visit  his 
family,  who  were  at  Fish  Kill,  and  afterward  General  Washington  at  White  Marsh, 
here  he  remained  until  January,  1778,  when  he  returned  to  his  command. 

In  the  following  June,  he  was  sent  with  dispatches  to  the  Commander  in- 
Chief  at  Philadelphia.  The  British  having  just  evacuated  that  city,  he  joined 
General  John  Morin  Scott's  Staff  as  an  Aide,  and  went  in  pursuit  of  them, 
participating  in  the  battle  of  Monmouth  on  the  28th.  He  there  on  the  battle 
field  overheard  General  Charles  Lee  say,  while  ordering  the  retrograde  move 
ment,  "  the  enemy  have  too  much  Cavalry  for  us"  After  the  battle  he  marched 
with  the  troops  to  New  Brunswick  and  so  to  King's  ferry,  crossing  the  Hudson 
to  Peekskill,  where  he  remained,  until  he  accompanied  General  John  Sullivan 
on  his  Western  expedition  against  the  tories  and  Indians,  taking  part  in  the 
bloody  engagement  of  Chemung  on  the  2pth  of  August,  1779.  In  the  follow 
ing  Winter,  while  the  army  lay  in  huts  at  Valley  Forge,  he  was  ordered  with 
five  hundred  men  and  one  field  piece,  to  cross  over  to  Staten  Island  and  seize 
the  stores  the  British  had  there  under  the  charge  of  Colonel  Van  Bushkirk. 
This  he  accomplished,  returning  with  seventeen  loads  of  spoils. 

Washington  wrote  to  him  from  Headquarters,  dated  the  24th  of  October, 
1780,  as  follows  : 

"  SIR  :  Congress  have  it  in  contemplation  to  reduce  the  number  of  regiments;  but  the  mode 
or  terms  on  which  the  deranged  officers  are  to  go  out  are  not  yet  fixed.  It  will  give  me  great 
pleasure  to  see  an  officer  of  your  merit  retained  in  service  ;  but  your  determination  to  submit 
cheerfully  to  any  regulations  which  may  be  deemed  necessary  for  the  public  good,  is  very  laudable 
and  the  surest  mark  of  a  disinterested,  worthy  citizen.  I  have  not  heard  anything  of  the  formation 
of  a  Legion.  Colonel  Ilazen's  Regiment  is  the  only  one  of  the  independent  Corps  of  Infantry 
which  Congress  propose  keeping  up." 


350 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


Governor  George  Clinton,  after  the  reduction  of  the  New  York  Quota  to 
two  regiments,  offered  two  additional  regiments  of  levies  to  the  Government  to 
protect  the  northwestern  frontiers  of  the  State  of  New  York,  which  Congress 
accepted.  One  of  them  was  placed,  on  the  28th  of  April,  1781,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Marinus  Willett  (Commandant),  and  called  the  5th 
New  York  Regiment.  Relieving  Colonel  Philip  Van  Cortlandt,  in  July  of  that 
year,  he  made  his  headquarters  at  Fort  Rensselaer,  defeating  Joseph  Brant  * 
and  the  Tories  in  the  engagements  of  Corey's  Town  and  Johnstown,  and  at 
Canada  Creek,  where  that  scourge  of  the  frontier,  Colonel  Walter  Butler,  fell 
with  a  bulletin  his  brain.  For  these  services,  Albany,  on  the  i9th  of  July,  1781, 
extended  to  him  the  "  Freedom  of  the  City." 

Retiring  from  the  army  after  the  peace,  he  was  elected,  in  1784,  Sheriff  of 
the  City  and  County  of  New  York,  which  office  he  held  for  four  years. 

At  the  request  of  Washington  he  undertook  that  perilous  jor.rney  to  adjust 
the  existing  difficulties  with  the  Creek  Indians,  about  the  tract  of  land  on  the 
Oconee,  which  the  State  of  Georgia  claimed.  With  a  servant  and  two  horses 
he  embarked  in  a  sloop  from  New  York,  on  the  i5th  of  March,  1790,  for 
Charleston,  S.  C.,  where  he  arrived  after  a  rough  voyage  of  fourteen  days. 
From  there  he  traveled  on  horseback,  with  his  servant  and  baggage  in  a  sulky, 
and  after  many  adventures  through  the  wilds  of  Georgia  and  upper  Florida, 
arrived  at  "  Hickory  Ground,"  the  residence  of  their  principal  Chief,  Colonel 
M'Gillivray,  on  the  4th  of  May.  Remaining  there  and  partaking  of  their 
"Mack  drink,"  after  delivering  his  big  talk  at  their  Council,  from  the  Great 
Father,  General  George  Washington,  he  on  the  ist  of  June  set  out  for  home, 
accompanied  by  Colonel  M'Gillivray,  his  nephew,  two  servants  and  eight 
"  braves"  ;  on  the  2ist  of  July,  arriving  at  the  "  Coffee  House  "  in  New  York 
City,  they  were  received  by  the  Tammany  Society,  in  full  regalia,  and 
escorted  to  see  General  Washington,  then  President  of  the  United  States. 
After  visiting  Governor  Clinton,  they  repaired  to  the  "  City  Tavern,"  where  an 
elegant  entertainment  awaited  them. 

Colonel  Willett  declined  a  position  with  rank  of  Brigadier-General,  proffered 
him  by  the  Secretary  of  War  in  1792,  to  fight  against  the  Indians  in  the 
Northwest. 

In  1807  he  was  elected  the  Mayor  of  New  York  City. 

The  Society  at  his  decease  issued  the  following  : 
"  General  Order.  "  NEW  YORK,  August  23,  1830. 

"  The  President,  with  deep  and  sincere  regret,  announces  to  the  members  of  the  Society  the 
death  of  their  venerable  and  esteemed  friend  and  brother,  Colonel  Marinus  Willett,  who  departed 
this  life  last  evening.  Colonel  Willett  commenced  his  military  career  in  the  Colonial  service  of 


*  This  Mohawk  chief's  name  was  Thayandanega. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  351 

the  British  Government,  in  the  reign  of  George  the  2d,  was  actively  engaged  ia  the  northern  and 
western  frontiers  of  this  State  in  the  French  \\.ir  (of  1756),  and  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Lake 
George,  where  the  first  Lord  Howe  was  killed.  Upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  the  Revo 
lution,  6'<?/<;«^/Willlet  joined  the  standard  and  entered  the  service  of  his  country,  in  which  it  was 
his  good  fortune  to  be  highly  distinguished  and  useful.  He  was  a  volunteer  at  the  battle  of  Mon- 
mouth.'on  the  2Sth  June,  1778,  when  the  British  forces  under  General^  Henry  Clinton  were 
defeated;  he  was  eminently  distinguished  in  the  siege  of  Fort  Stanwix,  and  also  at  the  battle  of 
Johnstown  (Montgomery  County),  on  the  25th  of  October,  1781,  in  both  of  which  he  commanded. 

"  Colonel  Willed  continued  in  the  Revolutionary  Army  until  the  close  of  the  War  of  Indepen 
dence,  commanding  at  that  time  the  5th  Regiment  ;  he  was  remarkable  for  personal  bravery, 
military  enterprize,  and  energy  of  character. 

"  In  private  life  Colonel  Willelt  was  one  of  the  most  amiable  of  men,  and  after  the  war  held 
several  civil  offices,  the  last  of  which  was  the  Mayoralty  of  the  City. 

"  The  members  of  the  Society  are  directed  to  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  in  honor  of 
Colonel  Willett  for  thirty  days.  They  are  also  respectfully  invited  to  attend  the  funeral  of  their 
deceased  companion  to  morrow  (Tuesday)  afternoon,  at  half-past  four  o'clock,  from  his  late 
residence,  No.  58  Broome  Street,  between  Cannon  and  Lewis  Streets.  By  order  of 

"  CHARLES  GRAHAM,  Colonel  RICHARD  VARICK, 

"  Secretary.  President.'" 

By  his  first  wife  he  had  but  one  child,  Marinus,  who  became  a  surgeon  in  the 
United  States  service,  but  died  unmarried.  His  second  wife  was  Mary  Pease  ; 
by  her  he  had  no  issue.  After  her  decease  he  married  Margaretta  Bancker,  by 
whom  he  had  four  sons  and  one  daughter,  Margaretta  (Mrs.  James  H.  Ray). 
His  name  appears  in  the  Half-pay  Roll. 

Colonel  Willett  was  buried  in  Trinity  Church-yard,  New  York  City,  with 
military  honors,  and  ninety  guns  in  commemoration  of  the  years  of  his  life 
were  fired  on  the  Battery;  Colonels  Robert  Troup,  Nicholas  Fish,  John  Trum- 
bull,  Aaron  Ogden,  Major  James  Fairlie,  Jacob  Morton,  John  Pintard  and  Mr. 
Dominick,  acting  as  the  pall-bearers. 

MARINUS  WILLETT,  M.D.,  his  eldest  son,  was  admitted  in  1831.  He 
married  Caroline  Bronson,  and  died  on  the  zyth  of  June,  1840,  leaving  two 
sons  and  two  daughters. 

MARINUS  WILLETT  ( Rn <ere/n/),  eldest  son  of  the  last,  was  admitted 
in  1842,  served  as  Secretary  of  this  Society  for  several  years,  and  in  1880  was 
elected  its  Chaplain.  He  married  Elizabeth  A.  C  ittendon,  of  New  York, 
resided  at  Byrum  Point,  Conn.,  and  died  at  Saratoga  Springs  on  the  23d  of 
February,  1881,  leaving  two  sons  and  one  daughter. 

ROBERT  WILSON 

Ensign     isf    New    York    Regiment. 

Born  in  New  York  State.     Died  in  1811. 

He  was  early  trained  to  a  border  life,  with  his  relation,  Captain  James 
Gregg,  whose  name  is  familiar  in  the  regions  of  the  Mohawk  Valley.  After 


352  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

the  New  York  Regiments  were  organized  for  the  war,  under  the  Act  of  Con 
gress,  on  the  24th  of  March,  1776,  he  enlisted  in  Gregg's  Company,  of  the  3d 
New  York,  on  the  2gth  of  January,  1777,  as  a  fifer,  and  on  the  26th  of 
November,  1780,  he  was  elected  its  Sergeant.  Appointed  Ensign  of  the 
Fourth  Company  of  the  ist  New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Schaick's — on 
the  2pth  of  June,  1781. 

On  the  i Qth  of  October  following,  he  was  selected  at  the  surrender  of  Lord 
Cornwallis,  at  Yorktown,  to  receive  the  British  colors,  as  the  following  record 
shows  : 

"The  delivery  of  the  colors  of  the  several  Regiments,  twenty-eight  in  number,  was  next 
performed.  For  this  purpose  twenty-eight  British  Captains,  each  bearing  a  flag  in  a  case,  were 
drawn  up  in  line.  Opposite  to  them,  at  a  distance  of  six  paces,  twenty  eight  American  Sergeants 
were  placed  in  line  to  receive  the  colors.  Ensign  Wilson,  of  Clinton's  Brigade,  the  youngest 
commissioned  officer  in  the  Army — being  only  eighteen  years  of  age — was  appointed  by  Colonel 
Hamilton,  the  officer  of  the  day,  to  conduct  this  interesting  ceremony.  When  Wilson  gave  the 
order  for  the  British  Captains  to  advance  two  paces,  to  deliver  up  their  colors,  and  the  American 
Sergeants  to  advance  two  paces,  to  receive  them,  the  former  hesitated,  and  gave  as  a  reason  that 
they  were  unwilling  to  surrender  their  flags  to  non-commissioned  officers.  Colonel  Hamilton,  who 
was  at  a  distance,  observed  this  hesitation,  and  rode  up  to  inquire  the  cause.  On  being  informed, 
he  willingly  spared  the  feelings  of  the  British  Captains,  and  ordered  Ensign  Wilson  to  receive  them 
himself,  and  hand  them  to  the  American  Sergeants." 

After  having  been  mustered  out  of  the  service,  he  settled  in  the  central 
part  of  the  State  of  New  York,  then  a  wilderness,  and  subsequently  became 
the  Postmaster  of  the  Town  of  Manlius,  Onondaga  County,  N.  Y. 

He  married  Amelia  Dunham,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons,  George  Stuart  and 
James  Gregg,  and  two  daughters,  Jane,  who  died  unmarried,  and  Ann  (Mrs. 
Caleb  McKeelJ.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 

ROBERT  PRESTON  WILSON,  his  grandson,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  was 
admitted  in  1876. 


JACOB  WRIGHT 

Captain  zd  New    York  Regiment. 

j 
He  was  a  resident  of  Jamaica,  L.  I.,  chosen  First  Lieutenant  of  the  Company 

of  Minute  Men  raised  in  1775,  in  Queens  County,  for  the  defence  of  the 
liberties  of  the  American  Colonies,  and,  soon  afterwards,  he  is  found  serving  as 
a  Captain  in  Colonel  Lasher's  Regiment. 

Colonel  James  Livingston,  having  returned  from  the  Canada  Campaign, 
wrote  to  John  Jay,  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  on  the  24th  of  August,  1776 
recommending  him,  and  "as  prepared  to  raise  a  Company." 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  353 

On  the  ist  of  July,  1776,  General  John  Morin  Scott  endorsed  him,  "as  an 
excellent  officer  for  a  Captain  in  the  new  arrangement  "  as  follows  : 

"  Captain  Wright,  late  of  Lasher's  Regiment,  in  my  Brigade,  has  distinguished  himself,  as 
much  by  his  cool,  intrepid  spirit,  as  by  his  zealous  attachment  to  the  American  cause,  and  his 
modest,  discreet  and  prudent  behavior.  I  strongly  recommend  him  as  a  man  who  will  do  honor 
to  his  Country." 

Appointed,  upon  the  Continental  Establishment  of  the  Quotas,  for  the 
service,  on  the  2ist  of  November,  1776,  Captain  of  the  2d  New  York  Regiment 
—Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's — in  which  he  continued  until  honorably  mustered  out 
in  1782. 

During  his  life  he  served  as  a  member  of  the  Standing  Committee,  and  his 
widow,  Margaret,  for  many  years  after  his  decease,  received  aid  from  the  fund. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


EPHRAIM    WOODRUFF 

Lieutenant  zd  New  York  Regiment. 

Died  on  the  pth  of  July,  1820. 

He  entered  the  service  as  a  Sergeant  in  Walker's  Company,  of  the  4th  New 
York  Regiment — Colonel  H.  B.  Livingston's — on  the  ist  of  January,  1777. 
Appointed  an  Ensign  in  the  same  on  the  gth  of  November,  1777,  and  promoted, 
after  the  consolidation  of  the  New  York  Regiments,  to  Litutenant  in  the  2d 
New  York  Regiment — Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's — on  the  ist  of  November,  1781, 
and  served  as  such  until  honorably  mustered  out  of  the  service  with  his 
regiment. 

After  the  war  he  appears  to  have  been  a  resident  of  Sussex  County,  New 
Jersey.  His  name  appears  on  the  Half-Pay  Roll. 


PETER    WOODWARD 

Lieutenant  New    York  Artillery. 

He  was  an  original  member  of  the  Connecticut  Society,  and  having,  at  the 
Anniversary  Meeting  of  the  New  York  State  Society,  held  on  the  5th  of  July, 
1802,  produced  satisfactory  evidence  of  his  membership,  was  accordingly 
admitted. 

Appointed  on  the  ist  of  February,  1777,  a  Second^ Lieutenant  of  the  2d  Regi 
ment,  Continental  Corps  of  Artillery — Colonel  Lamb's — and  assigned  to  Ger- 


354  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

shorn  Mott's  Company.  Promoted  to  be  First  Lieutenant  of  the  same,  on  the 
23d  of  March,  1781,  and  on  the  29th  of  June  following,  he  was  assigned  to 
Thomas  Machin's  Company.  Honorably  discharged  the  service  with  a  portion 
of  his  regiment  on  the  3d  of  November,  17^3. 

The  archives  of  the  Connecticut  State  Society,  deposited  in  the  Historical 
Society  at  Hartford,  record  him  as  a  resident  of  New  Haven.  His  name  appears 
on  the  Half- Pay  Roll. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  355 


DESCENDANTS 

OF  ORIGINAL  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CINCINNATI  SOCIETY  IN  FRANCE  AND  THE 
OTHER  STATES,  WHO  HAVE  BEEN  ADMITTED  BY  THE  NEW  YORK  STATE 
SOCIETY. 

JOHN  CROPPER,  great-grandson  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  John  Cropper, 
late  President  of  the  Virginia  Society,  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State 
Society  in  1874. 

JEAN  BAPTISTE  AUGUSTS  D'AURIER,  the  eldest  son  of  (Baron) 
d'Aurier,  was  elected  by  the  New  York  State  Society  in  1836  a  member;  he 
failed  to  qualify  by  signing  the  Institution.  His  father  was  in  1825  admitted 
as  an  honorary  member,  at  the  request  of  La  Fayette,  he  having  accompanied 
the  Allied  Forces  to  America,  and  served  under  Rochambeau  at  the  surrender 
of  Lord  Cornwallis. 

ELIAS  BOUDTNOT  DAYTON  was  transferred  to  the  New  York  Society 
in  1827,  having  been  admitted  in  1808,  in  the  succession  of  his  father,  Briga 
dier-General  Elias  Dayton,  by  the  New  Jersey  Society.  He  died  in  1846. 
(Succession  in  the  New  Jersey  Society.} 

FRANCIS  AMEDE  DE  PAU  was  elected  a  member  of  the  New  York 
State  Society  on  the  4th  of  July,  1849,  claiming  to  be  the  eldest  maternal 
grandson  of  Count  Francis  Joseph  Paul  de  Grasse,  the  Admiral  of  the  Allied 
French  Fleet.  He  died,  without  issue,  on  the  3d  July,  1854,  never  having 
perfected  his  membership  by  signing  the  Roll  of  the  Institution. 

EARL  DOUGLAS  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  Staie  Society  in  1856, 
in  right  of  his  father,  Captain  Richard  Douglas,  an  original  member  of  the 
Connecticut  Society.  He  died  in  1861. 

ALFRED  DOUGLAS,  JR.,  his  eldest  son,  succeeded  him  in  1860,  and  died 
in  1877. 

PEDRO  CLAUDIO  DU  QUESNE  made  an  application  in  1850  to  the 
New  York  State  Society  to  be  admitted  in  right  of  his  father,  the  Marquis 
Du  Quesne,  who,  he  claimed,  was  one  of  the  Captains  in  the  Allied  French 


356  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

Fleet.  It  was  considered  and  favorably  entertained,  but  he  neglected  to  avail 
himself  of  the  honor  or  comply  with  the  terms  before  his  decease  at  Havana, 
Cuba,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1880. 

DANIEL  MACKAY  FRYE  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society 
in  1836,  in  right  of  his  father,  Ensign  Frederick  Frye,  an  original  member  of 
the  Massachusetts  Society.  He  died  on  the  8th  of  February,  1859. 

FREDERICK  FRYE,  his  eldest  son,  succeeded  him  on  the  4th  of  July,  1859. 
and  died  on  the  22d  of  June,  1881,  at  New  Orleans,  without  issue. 

THEODORE  GENTIL  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society  in 
1854,  claiming  to  be  the  eldest  male  descendant  of  his  maternal  grandfather, 
Major  Stephen  Rochefontaine,  who  signed  the  parchment  Roll  of  the  Institu 
tion  with  Major-General  Duportail's  Engineer  Corps  at  West  Point,  and  which 
is  now  in  the  possession  of  the  General  Society.  He  died  in  Paris  on  the  3d  of 
April,  1880,  without  issue. 

WILLIAM  JONES  HOPPIN  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State 
Society  in  1875,  in  right  of  his  maternal  grandfather,  Captain  William  Jones,  an 
original  member  of  the  Rhode  Island  State  Society.  He  served  for  several 
years  as  a  diplomatic  representative  of  the  United  States,  acting  as  Secretary 
of  Legation  at  the  Court  of  St.  James,  London,  England. 

FREDERICK  JABEZ  HUNTINGTON  was  admitted  to  the  New  York 
State  Society  in  1880,  in  right  of  his  great-grandfather,  Brigadier- General 
Jedediah  Huntington,  an  original  member  and  first  President  of  the  Connecticut 
Society. 

CHARLES  LAWTON,*  the  eldest  son  of  Doctor  William  Lawton— who 
was  stationed  at  West  Point  in  1790 — was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State 
Society  in  1816.  His  application  having  been  referred  to  a  Committee, 
who  reported  favorably  upon  his  claim  without  having,  as  was  required 
under  the  By-laws  of  the  Society,  procured  a  proper  ''certificate  from  the 
Secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  Society,  stating  that  he  was  entitled  to 
membership.  The  Society  appears  to  have  admitted  him  upon  the  supposition 
that  he  was  the  son  of  William  Laughton,  the  Surgeon's  Mate,  of  Colonel  Vosels 
ist  Massachusetts  Regiment,  an  original  Member  of  the  Massachusetts  State 
Society. 


*  The  Lawton  family  of  New  Rochelle,  it  is  claimed,  changed  their  name  originally  from  Davenport. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  357 

In  1878,  the  New  York  State  Society  refused  to  entertain  the  application 
for  admission  of  his  eldest  son,  Alfred  Lawton,  as  the  rightful  representative  of 
Surgeon's  Mate  William  Laughton,  of  the  Massachusetts  Society,  their  names 
not  being  identical. 

EDWARD  PREBLE  MARCELLIN,  M.D.,  was  admitted  by  the  New 
York  State  Society  in  1827,  in  right  of  his  father,  Lieutenant  Claude  Antoine 
Villet  de  Marcellin,  an  original  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  Society.  Doctor 
Marcellin  acted  as  the  Secretary  of  the  New  York  Society  for  several  years, 
and  died  at  Spottiswood,  N.  J.,  on  the  25th  of  October,  1862,  the  Society 
attending  his  funeral  at  Trinity  Church,  New  York. 

HARRY  MANIGAULT  MORRIS,  the  eldest  surviving  son  of  Lewis 
Morris,  Jr.,  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society  in  1875,  in  right  of  his 
grand-father,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Lewis  Morris,*  of  the  South  Carolina  Society. 

DAVID  WASHINGTON  CINCINNATUS  OLYPHANT  was  admitted 
by  the  New  York  State  Society  in  1811,  in  right  of  his  father,  David  Olyphant, 
Director  of  the  Military  Hospitals  of  the  South,  and  an  original  member  of 
the  South  Carolina  Society. 

DAVID  OLYPHANT,  his  eldest  son,  was  elected  to  the  succession  in  1856,  but 
he  did  not  sign  the  Roll  until  1865.  He  died  in  June,  1887. 

SAMUEL  HOLDEN  PARSONS  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State 
Society  in  1858,  in  right  of  his  father,  Brigadier-General  Samuel  Holden 
Parsons,  late  President  of  the  Connecticut  Society. 

NATHAN  PAYSON  RICE,  M  D.,  an  hereditary  member  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  Society,  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society  on  the  4th  of 
July,  1860,  upon  producing  a  certificate  from  the  Secretary  of  that  Society, 
stating  that  he  was  a  member  of  it,  representing  in  succession  his  grandfather, 
Major  Nathan  Rice,  an  original  member,  and  evidence  that  he  was  now  a 
resident  of  this  State. 

HENRY  FLOYD  TALLMADGE  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State 
Society  in  1850,  in  right  of  his  father,  Major  Benjamin  Tallmadge,  an  original 
member  of  the  Connecticut  Society. 

BENJAMIN  H.  TALLMADGE,  his  son,  succeeded  him  in  1858,  and  died  in 
1863. 


*  The  eldest  son  of  the  Signer. 


358  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

WILLIAM  B.  THOMAS  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society  in 
1825,  in  right  of  his  father,  Doctor  John  Thomas,  who,  he  claimed,  was  an 
original  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Society,  but  whose  name  does  not 
appear  upon  the  original  Roll  of  that  State. 

HENRY  LIVINGSTON  THOMAS,  his  son,  was  admitted  in  the  succession  in 
1885,  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Fish,  without  the  terms  required  by  section  5  of 
By-Law  IX. 

JOHN  TORREY,  M.D.,  made  application  to  be  admitted  and  associated 
with  the  New  York  State  Society  since  the  year  1823,  but  does  not  appear  to 
have  subscribed  his  name  to  its  Roll  until  1854.  He  claimed  the  right  of 
admission  through  his  uncle,  Joseph  Torrey,  Lieutenant-Colonel  (by  brevet)  of 
Hazen's  Regiment,  and  who  signed  the  parchment  Roll  of  the  Institution  with 
that  regiment,  and  which  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the  General  Society.  He 
acted  as  the  Treasurer  of  the  New  York  Society  until  his  decease  on  the  icth 
of  March,  1873. 

HERBERT  GRAY  TORREY,  his  eldest  son,  succeeded  him  in  1873. 

HENRY  WARD  was  admitted  by  the  New  York  State  Society  in  1833,  in 
right  of  his  father,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Samuel  Ward,  an  original  member  of  the 
Rhode  Island  Society.  He  died  in  1842. 

HENRY  HALL  WARD,  his  eldest  son,  succeeded  him  in  1842,  and  served  as 
the  Treasurer  of  this  Society  from  1855  until  his  decease,  which  occurred  at 
Saratoga  Springs  on  the  27th  of  August,  1872.  He  died  unmarried. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  359 


DESCENDANTS 

OF  OFFICERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  ARMY,  ADMITTED  FOR  LIFE  BY  THE 
NEW  YORK  STATE  SOCIETY  UNDER  THE  RESOLUTION  OK  THE  4rrn  OF 
JULY,  1857.* 

JAMES  WATSON  AVERELL,  grandson  of  Colonel  Samuel  B.  Webb,  an 
original  member  of  the  Connecticut  Society,  was  admited  in  1857.  Died  in 
1876. 

ALFRED  DOUGLAS,  son  of  Captain  Richard  Douglas,  an  original  mem 
ber  of  the  Connecticut  Society,  was  admitted  in  1860.  Died  in  1869. 

SAMUEL  C.  ELLIS,  M.D.,  grandson  of  Captain  William  Willcocks— an 
Aide-de  Camp  on  the  Staff  of  Lord  Stirling — but  not  a  member  of  the  Society 
of  the  Cincinnnati,  was  admitted  in  1859.  Died  in  1874. 

PETER  GANSEVOORT,  youngest  son  of  Colonel  Peter  Gansevoort,  an 
original  member  of  the  New  York  Society,  was  admitted  in  1858.  Died  in 
1874. 

WILLIAM  OGDEN  GILES,  grandson  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Aquila  Giles, 
an  original  member  of  the  New  York  Society,  was  admitted  in  1860. 

WILLIAM  IRVING  GRAHAM,  great-nephew  of  Captain  Charles  Graham, 
an  original  member  of  the  New  York  Society,  was  admitted  in  1860,  and 
served  for  several  years  as  Secretary.  Died  in  1871. 

JOHN  FRANKLIN  GRAY,  M.D.,  great-nephew  of  Captain  Silas  Gray, 
an  original  member  of  the  New  York  Society,  was  admitted  in  1860,  and 
served  for  many  years  as  the  New  York  State  Society's  Physician.  Died  in 

1882. 

ALEXANDER  HAMILTON,  JR.,  grandson  of  General  Alexander  Ham 
ilton,  an  original  member  of  the  New  York  Society,  was  admitted  in  1860. 
Upon  the  decease  of  his  father  in  1876,  he  became  the  eldest  in  the  succession. 

*  See  ante,  page  123. 


360  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

WILLIAM  PRAY  LEE,  grandson  of  Captain  John  Pray,  an  original 
member  of  the  Massachusetts  Society,  was  admitted  in  1860.  Died  in  1872. 

STUYVESANT  LE  ROY,  grandson  of  Major  Nicholas  Fish,  an  original 
member  of  the  New  York  Society,  was  admitted  in  1860. 

GEORGE  WEBB  MORELL  (Major-General],  grandson  of  Colonel 
Samuel  B.  Webb,  an  original  member  of  the  Connecticut  Society,  was  admitted 
in  1858.  Died  in  1883. 

JOHN  NEILSON,  grandson  of  Major  Nicholas  Fish,  an  original  member 
of  the  New  York  Society,  was  admitted  in  1860. 

CHARLES  HENRY  WARD,  grandson  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Samuel  Ward, 
an  original  member  of  the  Rhode  Island  Society,  was  admitted  in  1860. 

WILLIAM  GREENE  WARD  (Brigadier-General,  N.  G  ,  S.  N.  Y.),  grand 
son  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Samuel  Ward,  an  original  member  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Society,  was  admitted  in  1860. 

ALEXANDER  STEWART  WEBB  (late  Brevet  Major- General,  U.  S.  A.), 
grandson  of  Colonel  Samuel  B.  Webb,  an  original  member  of  the  Connecticut 
Society,  was  admitted  in  1860. 

JAMES  WATSON  WEBB  (Hon.),  youngest  son  of  Colonel  Samuel  B. 
Webb,  an  original  member  of  the  Connecticut  Society,  was  admitted  in  1858. 
Died  in  1884. 

ROBERT  STEWART  WEBB,  grandson  of  Colonel  Samuel  B.  Webb,  an 
original  member  of  the  Connecticut  Society,  was  admitted  in  1860. 

STEPHEN  HOGEBOOM  WEBB,  second  son  of  Colonel  Samuel  B.  Webb, 
an  original  member  of  the  Connecticut  Society,  was  admitted  in  1860.  Died 

in  1873. 

* 

WALTER  WIMPLE  WEBB,  third  son  of  Colonel  Samuel  B.  Webb,  an 
original  member  of  the  Connecticut  Society,  was  admitted  in  1858.  Died  in 
1876. 

WATSON  WEBB,  grandson  of  Colonel  Samuel  B.  Webb,  an  original  mem 
ber  of  the  Connecticut  Society,  was  admitted  in  1860.  Died  in  1876. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


36l 


OFFICERS 


NEW  YORK  STATE  SOCIETY 


CINCINNATI. 


ELECTED  JULY  5x11,   1886. 


President^  . 
Vice-President^ 
Secretary, 
Treasurer,     .      .    . 
Assistant  Treasurer, 
Chaplain, 


Hon.  HAMILTON  FISH. 
ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 
.  .    JOHN  SCHUYLER. 

ALEXANDER  JAMES  CLINTON. 

EDWARD  WILLIAM  TAPP. 

Rev.  MANCIUS  HOLMES  HUTTON. 


Standing  Committee. 

Hon.  JOHN  COCHRANE,  MATTHEW  CLARKSON, 

THOMAS  WITTER  CHRYSTIE,  WILLIAM  HENRY  CROSBY, 

ANTHONY  WALTON  WHITE  EVANS,  RICHARD  VARICK  DE  WITT, 

CHARLES  SCOTT  MCKNIGHT,  JOHN  RHINELANDER  STEVENS. 

Delegates  to  the  General  Society. 

Hon.  HAMILTON  FISH,  JOHN  SCHUYLER, 

Hon.  JOHN  COCHRANE,  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON, 

ALEXANDER  JAMES  CLINTON. 


Alternates. 
THOMAS  WITTER  CHRYSTIE,  WILLIAM  HENRY  CROSBY. 


362 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


LIST  OF  MEMBERS 


NEW  YORK   STATE  SOCIETY,  JULY,    1886. 

Eldest  Male  Descendants  of  Original  Members  of  the  New    York 

State  Society. 

ADMITTED.  RESIDENCE. 

1834  HAMILTON  FISH  (President  and  President-General},  251  East.iyth  Street. 
1842  ANTHONY  WALTON  WHITE  EVANS,    .         .         .         New  Rochelle,  N.  Y. 
1849  JOHN  VAN  VORST,          ...  ...  Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

1853  CHARLES  SCOTT  MCKNIGHT,    ....  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y. 

1856  CHARLES  GRAHAM,       .         .         .  .         .         .       Hoboken,  N.  J. 

1858  JOHN  COCHRANE  (Late  Brigadier  General  U.  S.  Vols.],   7  East  626  Street. 
1858  EDWARD  WILLIAM  TAPP  (Assistant  Treasurer],     .         .     Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

1860  GEORGE  STEWART  BELKNAP, Grove  Qity,  Minn. 

1865  JOHN  SCHUYLER  (Secretary  and  Treasurer-General],       63  William  Street. 


1865  WILLIAM  HKNRY  CROSBY 

1867  THOMAS  WITTER  CHRYSTIE,    .         .         .         . 

1868  RICHARD  VARICK  DE  WITT, 

1868  CARROLL  LIVINGSTON,  .... 

1872  JOHN  BARNES  VARICK,      .... 

1874  JOHN  RHINKLANDER  STEVENS, 

1875  ALEXANDER  HAMMOND,    .... 

1875  DIXON  GEDNF.Y  HUGHES,     .... 

1876  WILLIAM  WALLACE  TAULMAN, 

1876  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  (Vice- President),    . 

1876  ROBERT  PRESTON  WILSON,       .         .         . 

1877  WILLIAM  LINN  KEESE, 

1878  ALEXANDER  JAMES  CLINTON  (Treasurer), 
1878  THOMAS  DE  WITT  CUYLER, 

1878  JAMES  JARED  LOGAN,     . 

1879  MATTHEW  CLARKSON,         .... 
1879  JOHN  TYLER  COOPER,     . 

1879  HOWARD  TILLOTSON, 

lX79  JOHN  BEEKMAN  WESTBROOK, 

1880  JAMES  VAN  DYK,       .         .         .         . 

1880  GRIFFITH  PRITCHARD  GRIFFITH,   . 

1881  MANCIUS  HOLMES  HUTTON,  D.D.  (Chaplain], 

1881  WILLIAM  RICHMOND  TALBOT, 

1882  JOHN  VARICK  DODGE  (Rev.), 
1882  HENRY  BROCKHOLST  LEDYARD, 
1884  HENRY  KIERSTED  BICKER, 


Elizabeth,  N.  J. 
Newburgh,  N.  Y. 
.  Albany,  N.  Y. 
New  York  City. 
Manchester,  N.  H. 
20  West  39th  Street. 
Islip,  N.  Y 
.    Jersey  City,  N.  J. 
'.       Nyack,  N.  Y. 
Irvington,  N.  Y, 
.      Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
Flatbush,  N.  Y. 
.     71  Wall  Street. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Newburgh,  N.  Y. 
15  West  45th  Street. 
Atlanta,  Ga. 
.      Rhinebeck,  N.  Y. 
^     Peekskill,  N.  Y. 
.    Lead  City,  Dakota. 
Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 
Providence,  R.  I. 
Evansville,  Ind. 
Detroit,  Mich. 
Montclair,  N.  J. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


363 


1885  JAMES  STEVENSON  VAN  CORTLANDT, 

1885  BURR  WENDELL,         .         .         . 

1885  PAUL  ERNEST  TIEMANN,  M.D.,     . 

1885  DE  GRASSK  BOSTWICK  FOWLER, 

1886  ROBERT  BURNET,          . 
1886  GEORGE  BEZALEEL  HOWE, 
1886  WILLIAM  SWETLAND  KETCH UM, 
1886  GEORGE  HUNT  PEXDLETON, 


Van  Cortlandt  Manor. 
Cazenovia,  N.  Y. 
St.  Luke's  Hospital. 
Baltimore,  Md. 
West  Coldenham,  N.  Y. 
208  West  1 23d  Street. 
Pittsburgh,  N.  Y. 
United  States  Minister  to  Germany. 


Eldest  Male   Descendants   of   Original 

tJieir  respecti 

1852  JOHN  KEARNEY  RODGERS,     . 
1857  WICKHAM  HOFFMAN, 
1860  JOHN  WHEELWRIGHT  GREATOX,   . 
1860  NATHAN  PAYSON  RICE,  M.D  , 
1865   DAVID  OLYPHANT,     ; . 

1873  HERBERT  GRAY  TORREY, 

1874  JOHN  CROPPER,     .        .         .         . 

1875  WILLIAM  JONES  HOPPIN,  . 
1875  HARRY  MANIGAULT  MORRIS, 
1880  FREDERICK  JABEZ  HUXTINGTON, 

1884  ROBERT  PERCY  ALDEN, 

1885  HENRY  LIVINGSTON  THOMAS, 


Members  of  the  State  Societies  opposite 
're  Names. 


Pennsylvania, 
Connecticut, 
Massachusetts, 
Massach  u  setts. 
South  Carolina, 

Virginia, 
Rhode  Island, 
South  Carolina, 
Connecticut, 
Connecticut, 
Massachusetts, 


Ontonagon,  Mich. 

60  Wall  Street. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

59  Liberty  Street. 

28W.  1 7th  Street. 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

3  East  38th  Street. 

61  Pine  Street. 
49  W.  38th  Street. 

Norwich,  Conn. 

Cornwall,  Penn. 

Washington,  D.  C. 


Life  Members  Admitted  under  the  Rule  of  1857. 
1860  ALEXANDER  STEWART  WEBB  (Major  General],    .    15  Lexington  Avenue. 


1860  ROBERT  STEWART  WEBB,         .... 

1860  CHARLES  HENRY  WARD,     .         .         .         . 

1860  WILLIAM  GREENE  WARD  (Brigadier-General], 
1860  JOHN  NEILSON,         ...... 

1860  STUYVESANT  LE  ROY,          : 
1860  WILLIAM  OGDEN  GILES, 


43  Lafayette  Place. 

165  Broadway. 

Staten  Island,  N.  Y. 

New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 

Newport,  R.  I. 

Kingsbridge,  N.  Y.  City. 


Honorary  Member. 
1879  WILLIAM  TECUMSEH  SHERMAN  (General  U.  S.  A.], 


New  York  City. 


364  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 


INSTITUTION 


SOCIETY  OF  THE    CINCINNATI. 

Now  in  the  possession  of  the  General  Society  and  written  on  parchment: — 

*  An  asterisk  denotes  having  signed  twice. 

Go.  Washington. 

William  Heath,  Major-General. 

Benjamin  Lincoln, 

Robert  Howe, 

Nathanael  Greene,        " 

Alexan'r  Me  Doug-all,    " 

Steuben, 

Henry  Knox,  " 

*Duportail, 

Mordecai  Gist,  Brigadier-General. 

Armancl,  Marquis  de  la  Rouerie,  Brigadier-General. 

John  Paterson,  Brigadier -General. 

Edward  Hand,  "  and  Adjutant. 

John  Greaton,  " 

Rufus  Putnam, 

Elias  Dayton, 

Jedediah  Huntington,         " 

Timothy  Pickering,  Colonel  and  Quartermaster-General. 

Heman  Swift,  Colonel  2d  Connecticut  Regiment. 

Philip  Van  Cortlandt,  Colonel  zJ  New  York  Regiment. 

Henry  Jackson,  Colonel  \th  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

Samuel  Shaw,  Captain  Massachusetts  Artillery. 

William  Hull,  Lieutenant-Colonel  6th  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

Joseph  Pettengill,  Major  \st  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

Samuel  Whitwell,  Surgeon  yl  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

Moses  Knap,  Major  $th  "  " 

John  Whiting,  Lieutenant  id  "  " 

Cornelius  Van  Dyck,  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

*Gouvion.  Colonel  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers. 

Ebenezer  Huntington,  Lieutenant-Colonel  \st  Connecticut  Regiment. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  365 

Samuel  B.  Webb,  Colonel  $d  Connecticut  Regiment. 

Peter  Woodward,  Lieutenant  New  York  Artillery. 

Lewis  Nicola,  Colonel  (invalid). 

John  Brooks,  Lieutenant-Colonel  (commanding]  "jt/t  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

Hugh  Maxwell,  Lieutenant-Colonel  &th  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

Walter  Stewart,  Colonel,  Inspector  Northern  Army. 

Officers  of  Engineers,  signed  to  Counterpart  of  the  Institution. 
*  I )  LI  p  o  r  t  ai  1 ,  Major-  General. 
*Gouvion,  Colonel. 
Laumoy,  '' 

Kosciuszko,         "'  , 

Villefranche,  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

Wuibert,  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  Continental  Corps  of  Engineers. 
Murnan,  Major  of  Engineers. 
Rochefontaine,  Major. 
L'Enfant,  " 

HAZEN'S  REGIMENT. 
William  Stuart,  Lieutenant. 
James  Anderson,  Lieutenant. 
Nicholas  Schuyler,  Surgeon. 
Palmer  Cady,  Lieutenant. 
Germain  Diony,  Lieutenant. 
Benjamin  Mooers,  Lieutenant  and  Adjutant. 
Edward  Chirm,  Lieutenant  and  Paymaster. 
William  Torrey,  Lieutenant. 
Edward  Bugbee,  Lieutenant. 
Zaccheus  Peaslee,  Lieutenant. 
Lewis  Gosselin,  Lieutenant. 

Thomas  Thompson,  Lieutenant  and  Quartermaster. 
Antoine  Paulient,  Captain. 
Fran£ois  Monty,  Lieutenant. 

The  above  names  were  probably  signed  after  the  following: 

Moses  Hazen,  Brigadier-General. 

Edward  Antill,  Lieutenant-Colonel  (commanding). 

Joseph  Torrey,  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

Lawrence  Olivier,  Major  (by  brevet). 

William  Satterlee,  Captain. 

William  Mtinson,  Captain.' 

Richard  Lloyd,  Captain. 


366  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

James  Duncan,  Captain. 
Thomas  Pry,  Captain. 
Clement  Gosselin,  Captain. 
Anthony  Selin,  Captain. 
Francis  Gilmart,  Lieutenant. 
Amable  Boileau,  Lieutenant. 
Andrew  Lee,  Lieutenant. 
Noah  Lee,  Captain. 
Murdock  McPherson,  Lieutenant. 

The  last  two  names  are  attached  to  this  list  on  a  separate  piece  of  paper. 

OFFICERS  OF  GENERAL  ARMAND'S  CORPS. 
*Armand,  Marquis  de  la  Rouerie. 
J.  Ternan,  Lieutenant-Colonel. 
George  Schaffner,  Major. 
Henry  Bedken,  Captain. 
Le  Brun  De  Bellecour,  Captain. 
De  Bert  De  Majon,  Captain. 
John  Sharp,  Captain. 
Augustus  Brissault,  Captain. 
Baptiste  Verdier,  Lieutenant. 
De  Fontevrieux,  Lieutenant. 
Godfried  Swartz,  Lieutenant. 
Henry  Riedell,  Lieutenant. 
William  Gitling,  Cornet. 
Jervuturas,  Lieutenant. 
Richard  Head,  Lieutenant. 
P.  B.  B.  Rassaneau,  Cornet. 
William  Murdock,  Cornet. 
Cas.  Schaffner,  Cornet. 
James  McDougall,  Cornet. 
John  Morris,  Surgeon. 

Charles  Greer,  Surgeon  s  Mate. 

> 
Joseph  Smith,  Cornet. 


Lewis  De  Pontiere,  Captain  of  Horse,  Aidc-de-Camf>  to  Steuben.  Date  of  commission, 
i8th  of  February,  1778.  Entered  by  the  Secretary  Ganeral  on  the  list  of  Foreign  Officers  in  the 
book  of  minutes. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  367 

LlSTE    DE 

L'ORDRE  AMERICAIN  DE  CINCINNATUS 
EN  FRANCE.* 

S.  E.  Le  Chevalier  de  la  Luzerne,  Ministre  Plcnipotentiaire. 
S.  E.  Le  Seigneur  Gerard,  dernier  Ministre  Plenipotentiaire. 

Amiraux  et  Commandants  de  la  Marine. 
L.  E.  Le  Comte  ^"Estaing. 
L.  E.  Le  Comte  de  Grasse. 
L.  E.  Le  Comte  de  B arras. 
L.  E.  Le  Chevalier  Destouches. 

Marechaux  de  Camp. 

FRANCS. 

Le  Comte  de  Rochambeau,  Commandant-en-Chef 6,000 

Le  Baron  de  Viomenil,  Lieutenant- General 3>000 

Le  Chevalier  de  Chastellux 2,000 

Le  Comte  de  Viomenil 2,000 

Le  Comte  de  Saint-Simon 2,000 

De  Choisy 2,000 

De  Beville. 

Brigadiers  en  Amerique. 

Le  Comte  de  Custines 2,000 

Le  Due  de  Lauzun 2,000 

Le  Due  dc  Laval 2,000 

Le  Comte  t/'Antichamps. 

Le  Marquis  de  Rostaing 2,000 

Desaudroitines. 

D'Aboville 1,500 

La  Vallette 1,500 

Tous  servi  en  Amerique  avec  le  grade  de  Colonel. 

Marquis  de  Saint  Maime 1,000 

Comte  Chretien,  des  Deux  Fonts. 

Comte  de  Pondens 1,000 

Vicomte  </'Arrot , i  ,000 

Vicomte  de  Rochambeau .    1,000 

Comte  Guillaume,  d'es  Deux  Fonts. 

Vicomte  de  Noailles 1,000 

*  Taken  from  liaron  CHrardot's  book. 


368  THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI. 

FRANCS. 

Comtc  de  Charlus 1,000 

Comte  Flechin. 

Robert  Dillon 1,000 

Querenet,  de  la  Combe,  des  Ingenieurs. 

Cointe  de  Segur i  ,000 

Cointe  de  Fersen. 

Prince  de  Broglie 1,000 

Scheldon. 

Comte  de  Damas. 1,000 

Cointe  ilc  Vauban 1,000 

Marquis  de  Champcenets 1,000 

PARIS,  LK  7  JANVIER,   1784. 

(Signed}     LE  CTE   DE   ROCHAMBEAU. 

Tous  ceux   dont    les   sommes  sont  en  blanc  etaient  absents,  mais  probablement  adhe'reront 
a  lameme  deliberation. 

Liste  des  officers  dans  le  cas  d'etre   proposes  pour  etre  admis  dans  1 'association  des  Cincin- 
natus,  d'apres  le  reglement  de  la  Societe  Generate  du  15  May,  1784. 

Le  Baron  de  1'Estrade. 
Le  Chevalier  de  Lameth. 
M.  de  Tarle. 
M.  de  Menouville. 
Le  Baron  de  Saint  Simon. 
Le  Chevalier  de  Mirabeau. 
M.  He  Montesquieu. 
Le  Viconite  Dosmond 
M.  de  MacMahon. 
Le  Chevalier  de  Tarle. 
Le  Cointe  de  Loncenil. 
Le  Comte  de  Chabannes. 
Le  Baron  ^/'Esebeck. 
M.  f/'Anselme. 
M.  de  Ricey. 
M.  Lynch. 

Le  Vicomte  de  Vandreuil. 
Lc  Vicomte  de  Fleury. 

Supplement  de  deux  officers  du  15  Aoust,  1784.  proposee  pour  le  ordre  Cincinnatus. 
Goulet,  de  la  Tour. 
Marquis  de  Montmort. 

(Signed}        CTE  DE  ROCHAMBEAU. 


THE    SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  369 

Capitains  et  Commandants  de  Vaisseaux. 

Resolu.  dans  1'assemblee  generate  de  la  Societx-  de  Cincinnati. 

du  lundy  17  May,  1784. 

M.  de  Tarle. 

Le  Chevalier  de  Lameth  {Colonel  par  brevet). 

Lc  Comte  de  Sonneville. 

Lc  Comte  de  la  Touche. 

Le  Comte  dc  Kergariou. 

Le  Chevalier  de  1'Eguille. 

Le  Chevalier  du  Quesne. 

Le  Comte  de  Travalais. 

Le  Chevalier  Maulevrier. 

Le  Chevalier  de  Vallongne. 

Le  Comte  de  Capellis. 

Le  Chevalier  de  la  Perouse. 

(Signed)     G.  WASHINGTON,  Prcs. 


Lieutenant-Colonel  de    Bouchet  was  admitted   by  the   General  Society  May 
1 7th,  1784. 

Le  Marquis  ae  Bouille  was  admitted  by  the  General  Society  May  i8th,  1787. 


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